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U.S. Customs specialists seize four kilos of illegal Italian snails at port of Memphis

Things got slimy at the port of Memphis after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists discovered some hidden mollusks.

The specialists discovered about four kilos of Theba Pisanas, also known as white Italian snails, disguised as olives, chocolate cream candies and bread, according to a release Wednesday by the government agency.

The snails arrived in Memphis Friday from Palermo, Italy, and were headed to New Jersey, assumed to eventually reach restaurants and someone's dinner.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists discovered about four kilos of Theba Pisanas, also known as white Italian snails, July 15, 2022. The snails arrived in Memphis Friday from Palermo, Italy and were headed to New Jersey, assumed to eventually reach restaurants.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists discovered about four kilos of Theba Pisanas, also known as white Italian snails, July 15, 2022. The snails arrived in Memphis Friday from Palermo, Italy and were headed to New Jersey, assumed to eventually reach restaurants.

According to the release, the snails, an interruption to the U.S. ecosystem, could not stay hidden and were found once the treats covering the slimy creatures were x-rayed.

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“Our agriculture specialists are highly skilled in preventing shippers’ attempts to circumvent U.S. laws and regulations regarding agriculture importations,” said Michael Johnson, acting area port director. “Judging from the plethora of Italian restaurants near the snail’s destination, they may have ended up on someone’s plate, but they were both a restricted organism and mis-manifested. U.S. laws need to be followed and my officers are there to vigilantly enforce them.”

Customs and Border Protection label the commonly-edible land snail as a "serious pest" in the U.S. that can rapidly aggregate, defoliate large trees and may also consume grain crops.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists discovered about four kilos of Theba Pisanas, also known as white Italian snails, July 15, 2022. The snails arrived in Memphis Friday from Palermo, Italy and were headed to New Jersey, assumed to eventually reach restaurants.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists discovered about four kilos of Theba Pisanas, also known as white Italian snails, July 15, 2022. The snails arrived in Memphis Friday from Palermo, Italy and were headed to New Jersey, assumed to eventually reach restaurants.

The snails could also spread infections while feeding on crops by infecting the grain with fungal pathogens, causing diseases in humans and other living species.

Specialists "destroyed" the Theba Pisanas by steam sterilization, the release said.

On an average day in 2021, Customs and Border Protection discovered about 264 pests at U.S. ports of entry and 2,548 materials for quarantine — plants, meats, animal byproducts and soils

Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at Dima.Amro@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @AmroDima.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Illegal Italian snails: U.S. Customs in Memphis seize kilos of mollusks