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Rotting monkey head found at customs
By Murray Wardrop
Last Updated: 7:13AM GMT 27 Nov 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3529227/Rotting-monkey-head-found-at-customs.html

Customs officials got a nasty surprise when they opened a suspicious
smelling package at an airport and found a rotten monkey's head
inside.

Officers at Munich airport put the airmail parcel from South Africa
aside when they noticed a foul smell coming from it.

But they were horrified when they cut it open and discovered the
decaying skull, covered in live maggots.

The stench was so bad that officers were forced to evacuate the room
to get some fresh air, before it was handed over to a specialist
disposal firm.

It is thought that the sender and the addressee on the package could
face legal action over the incident because primates are protected by
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora.

Thomas Meister, spokesman for the airport's main customs office, said:
"We could smell it, and that was not something for sensitive noses.
That's why we opened it in the first place.

"The maggots 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.

"Because of the degree of decay we have to make sure that everything
that could endanger human health is destroyed."

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 took place on Monday and an investigation is
now under way to trace the sender.

Mr Meister said: "They will be prosecuted, but it will be easier to
get to the receiver.

"This person will face a fine of somewhere between a few hundred to a
thousand euros."

He added that it was not the first bizarre animal find at the office.

"Last time we found a half-meter long crocodile skull that had been
made into a lamp," he said.