Why are conch shells and rocks confiscated at airport security?
This happened to people in front of us at the Varadero airport. Is it to enforce the endangered species act or for safety? Security would surprise me as they allow people to bring on bottles of liquor purchased at the duty free.
Yes
They usually take things like that because they pose a bio-hazard for the country the people are entering. Anything natural, like plants, animals, fish, and soil, can carry pests or diseases that can affect the natural environment or the agriculture of a country.
Many beautiful beaches all around the world are being slowly destroyed by thousands of tourists EACH thinking, 'Oh, nobody will notice if I take just three or four conch shells'.
In many places, it is illegal to remove those types of items. The reason is usually related to preservation of the ecosystem and/or certain species. It has nothing to do with security.
Shells and rocks won't be confiscated if you put them inside your suitcase but if you try to carry him on board yes they're going to confiscate them
It's often against the law to remove them.
Karen L. Is right. There are a number of examples of things being imported- there could be egg sacks in those shells for example. Some fly that got into California on a plane nearly wiped out the citrus crop a while ago. That's entirely different from sealed bottles of alcohol bought in the airport so they know the contents aren't explosive.
In most countries is is illegal to remove plants and animals from protected habitats without permit. While the conch shell that people in front of you had may not have come from such protected habitat, they had no way of proving it.
Similar rules exist on Turks and Caicos Islands, an island chain between Bahamas and Hispaniola. The waters around those islands are protected and taking things such as shells and coral out of the country is strictly forbidden. There are commercial conch farms on Turks and Caicos that also sell empty conch shells to the tourists. These shells come with the certificate that the conch is farm raised and wild caught. Only shells accompanied by those certificates are allowed to be taken out of the country.
This was likely due to beach you took it from was a protected habitat/environment. A number of countries have similar laws against transporting beach items from their countries.
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