French Customs Seize Smuggled Dinosaur Teeth En Route to Italy

News Desk

Paris: French customs officials have intercepted nine dinosaur teeth from a courier truck traveling from Spain to Italy. The discovery occurred last month during a routine inspection near the Italian border along France’s Mediterranean coast.

Customs officer Samantha Verdoron reported that during the inspection, officers utilized sniffer dogs and randomly opened parcels, leading to the discovery of the teeth. The fossils, believed to be millions of years old, were likely sourced from Morocco.

A specialist from the Menton Prehistory Museum assisted in identifying the fossils, which included a tooth from a long-necked marine reptile known as Zarafasaura oceanis, a type of plesiosaur first discovered in Morocco. Additionally, three teeth were identified as belonging to Mosasaurus, an extinct marine lizard, and the remaining five were believed to be from Dyrosaurus, an ancestor of modern crocodiles.

This seizure highlights ongoing concerns about the illicit trade of cultural and historical artifacts. In a similar incident, French customs returned nearly 25,000 rare archaeological pieces to Morocco in 2020, which had been seized between 2005 and 2006 . Authorities continue to combat the smuggling of such items to preserve cultural heritage and prevent illegal trafficking.