Recently, one particularly strange cargo, found in the luggage of a Canadian man returning from Russia, has been revealed by National Geographic.
After being alerted by a beagle at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada Border Services Agency personnel discovered hundreds of containers filled with live squirming leeches in the man's bags.
In total, 5000 of the parasitic worms were found - the man claimed he would use their waste water would enrich his orchids.
The incident occurred on October 17, 2018, but has only recently been revealed to the public.
André Lupert, manager of intelligence for the Wildlife Enforcement Directorate at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ontario Region, told National Geographic the man was charged with illegally importing an internationally regulated species without the required permits and was awaiting a court hearing.
Leeches are sometimes used for medicinal purposes and the two species of leeches seized were the southern medicinal leech and the European medicinal leech.
Leech therapy is used to increase circulation to injured tissues by secreting natural anticoagulants as they consume pooled blood. According to National Geographic, they can sell for around $14 each.
While the man claimed the leeches were for personal use, Lupert wasn't convinced.
"This sort of leech quantity would suggest it was for commercialisation," he told National Geographic.
He told the magazine he thought the man may have been seeking buyers for leech uses like treating frostbite or recovery from face lifts. Others use the worms for naturopathic home use and believe they can treat pain or remove "bad blood" from the body – which can have a risk of infection without use of antibiotics.
Holland, 1624: A doctor applies leeches to the back of a female patient as a means of letting blood. Photo / Getty Images
The medicinal usage of leeches dates back to ancient Egypt. Leech treatment was also so popular in Europe in the early 19th-century that they became endangered on the continent.
Despite the man's arrest, the seized leeches were not destroyed or released by authorities as they could be used in evidence and were not native to Canada – however, they were left with some troubles trying to house them.
"These are pretty active creatures. We changed the water regularly, and when the officers came in one morning, they found that 20 had escaped," Lupert said.
The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto agreed to take just 50. Eventually, a home was found for another 1000 at the American Museum of Natural History – but it involved some complicated cross-border paperwork.
As the man awaits his court hearing, officials are still trying to find a home for the last 3,950 leeches.
