U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated the leeches in Philadelphia.
U.S. Customs and Border officers in Philadelphia discovered plastic jars containing 300 leeches in six air cargo shipments from Bulgaria between February 19 and February 25. The leeches "were destined to addresses in Connecticut, Florida and Illinois."officers recently came “face to face with nine jars of slimy bloodsuckers” in Philadelphia.
Nine plastic jars containing 300 leeches “arrived in a combined six air cargo shipments from Bulgaria between February 19 and February 25 and were destined to addresses in Connecticut, Florida, and Illinois,” the agency said in a news release. The agency said the shipments violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which “prohibits the unlicensed possession, trade, import and export of protected species of wildlife or wildlife products.”“Customs and Border Protection officers and agriculture specialists often encounter unique and interesting things, like this jar full of icky bloodsuckers, while inspecting goods being imported to the United States,” said Joseph Martella, CBP’s Area Port Director in Philadelphia.On Jan.