(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection workers at the O’Hare International Mail Facility have made some unusual discoveries that they say could have brought new agricultural diseases to the U.S.
Agriculture specialists with the agency have seized more than 1,600 shipments containing prohibited items over the past six months, including live moss bath mats, live snails and human skulls.
Customs and Border Protection said those are the more unusual items.
Most often, the agency said the specialists, including a dog named Hitch, find things like seeds, plants and meat products that, it said, could introduce diseases and insects that could be harmful to agriculture.
The human skulls, there were six, came from the Netherlands. How they went from human bodies to being part of international mail shipments is unclear.
The live moss bath mats arrived from Poland.
“Food supply is constantly at risk from pests and disease not known to occur in the U.S.,” said LaFonda Sutton-Burke, Customs and Border Protection’s Chicago office.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio live here.
Related
