非洲大蜗牛成为洛杉矶的菜篮子里的美食(Picnic Baskets Filled with Giant African Snails Seized at LAX)

本文英文版来自http://gawker.com/,中文版本站翻译。
Sixty-seven live giant African snails were discovered in two picnic baskets at the Los Angeles International Airport earlier this month. The snails, which collectively weighed 35 pounds, were sent from Lagos, Nigeria, to a person in San Dimas, Ca., and were apparently intended for human consumption。

这个月早些时候，67个生活在非洲的巨型蜗牛在洛杉矶国际机场附近的野味餐馆发现。这些重达35磅的蜗牛分别来自拉各斯，尼日利亚等非洲国家，均出自于一个来自哥斯达黎加圣迪马斯市的商人之手，很显然，这些蜗牛是拿来供人类食用的。

This is, according to the Los Angeles Times, the most snails Customs has ever dealt with:

根据洛杉矶时报的消息,这些大蜗牛是海关检测中发现的最大最多的一次：

In the past, federal inspectors have discovered one or two of the large snails hidden in luggage, but this marked "the first time this pest has been encountered in such large quantity and as a consumption entry" in Los Angeles, said Todd C. Owen, director of field operations for the customs agency.

在过去，联邦调查员已经在行李中发现隐藏的一个或两个作为宠物的大蜗牛。海关检察长Todd C. Owen这样说道，这次在洛杉矶的发现事件标志着“在消费领域中第一次遇见如此多作为’宠物’的大蜗牛”

Giant African snails, also known as land snails, can live as long as 10 years and grow up to eight inches long. The snails can carry parasites harmful to humans.
非洲大蜗牛，也被称为陆地蜗牛，寿命能活到10岁，身长能达到八英寸长。最大的问题在于，非洲大蜗牛蜗牛可能携带对人体有害的寄生虫。
Owing to the snails' potential threat to humans, they were incinerated after being inspected, Lee Harty, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Borders told the Associated Press. But apparently it's no big deal if you accidentally bring crop-killing, possibly-people-hurting mollusks into the country.

由于这些蜗牛对人类具有潜在的危害，美国海关与边境局的发言人Lee Harty告诉美联社，这些蜗牛检查之后会被焚烧掉。但要说明的是，不经意间从外国带入一些能引起伤害农作物的、对人体有害的软体动物进入国内并不值得担心。

"We're investigating what happened but it doesn't seem like there was smuggling involved. When someone doesn't know a commodity is prohibited under USDA regulations there is usually no punishment," Maveeda Mirza, CBP program manager for agriculture, told the Associated Press.

CBP农业项目经理Maveeda Mirza告诉美联社，我们正在调查是不是有走私行为？当然，如果一个人善意携带被美国农业部规定禁止运输商品，他通常不会受到惩罚.

 [Image via Los Angeles Times/U.S. Customs and Border Protection]
图片来自洛杉矶时报/美国海关与边境保护局