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February 8, 2012
Maggot-infested monkey head found at Munich customs
Published: 26 Nov 08 12:56 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20081126-15748.html
Customs officials at the Munich airport got a nasty surprise this week when they discovered an airmail parcel from South Africa that contained a rotten monkey head, the main customs office reported on Wednesday.
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The decaying skull was covered in live maggots when officials opened the package on Monday, he said. "They were crawling out of the package. Some officers had to leave the room and take a deep breath of fresh air outside because it was so bad," Meister said.
The customs office is not sure which species the primate’s severed head belongs to, but Meister said it was "definitely protected."
The gruesome discovery has been given to a specialised firm who will burn it. "Because of the degree of decay we have to make sure that everything that could endanger human health is destroyed," Meister added.
Both the sender and the addressee of the package face legal action in the incident because primates are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. "They will be prosecuted, but it will be easier to get to the receiver,” Meister said. "And this person will face a fine of somewhere between a few hundred to a thousand euros."
This isn't the first bizarre find at the Munich customs office, though. "Last time we found a half-meter long crocodile skull that had been made into a lamp," Meister said.
Kerstin von Glowacki (news@thelocal.de)
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