Have you ever been stopped by TSA for suspicious souvenirs? Probably not for trying to import poop into the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection specialists at a Minnesota airport recently confiscated and disposed of a box of giraffe poop that a woman was trying to take home.
During an inspection on Sept. 29 at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, the woman claimed she acquired the feces from Kenya and was going to use them to make a necklace, CBP said.
The woman, who lives in Iowa, told officials that this wasn't her first attempt at creating a feces necklace; she had previously made them using moose droppings.
“There is a real danger with bringing fecal matter into the U.S.,” said LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, CBP Director at the Field Operations-Chicago Field Office, in a press release. “If this person had entered the U.S. and had not declared these items, there is high possibility a person could have contracted a disease from this jewelry and developed serious health issues."
Kenya is affected by diseases such as African swine fever, Newcastle disease, foot and mouth disease, and swine vesicular disease. CBP agriculture specialists ensure these diseases don't enter the U.S. by thoroughly inspecting travelers' belongings.
Officials said that to bring in poop from certain animals to the U.S., you need a permit, which the woman did not have, and they destroyed the poop box via steam sterilization.
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