LOS ANGELES, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport seized a shipment of several dozen live giant African snails, considered a delicacy in Nigeria but also voracious pests that can eat paint and stucco off houses, officials said on Monday. 
 
 Weighing nearly 2 pounds (0.9 kg) each, including their shells, and measuring about 6 inches (15 cm) in length, the 67 snails arrived from Lagos, Nigeria, in two plastic baskets with paperwork describing them as being for human consumption, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said. 
 
 The mollusks appeared to be packaged as a personal shipment and were marked as destined for an address in San Dimas, California, about 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles, agency spokeswoman Lee Harty said. 
 
 No attempt was made to conceal or smuggle the snails, the largest such shipment ever seized at LAX, she said. But the creatures are prohibited from entry because they are deemed a highly invasive pest that pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture, the environment and public health, the agency said. 
 
 According to Customs and Border Protection, the giant snails can consume more than 500 types of plants, and will even munch on the exterior of homes if fruits and vegetables are not available. They also can carry several parasites harmful to humans, including one that can lead to meningitis, Harty said. 
 
 After they were intercepted by customs officials at the airport on July 1, specimens were sent to a local U.S. Department of Agriculture lab and then on to USDA mollusk specialists in Washington for further examination. 
 
 Experts identified the creatures as belonging to the giant African snail species, known by the scientific name Archachatina marginata. They also are commonly referred to as giant African land snails, West African snails, West African land snails or banana rasp snails. 
 
 Each of the mollusks, with striated brownish-orange shells, can easily fill the palm of a person's hand. They can grow up to 8 inches (20 cm) in length and may live up to 10 years in the wild, experts say. 
 
 The entire collection confiscated at the airport was eventually turned over to the USDA, which disposed of the snails through incineration, although no garlic or butter was used, Harty said. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Cooney) ||||| LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The United States Customs and Border Protection said Monday that agriculture specialists at Los Angeles International Airport intercepted 67 invasive snails in an air cargo shipment, officials said. 
 
 According to authorities, CBP received notice of the shipment of snails on July 7, which contained two plastic packages in total weighing just over 35 pounds. The cargo arrived from Lagos, Nigeria, and was to be delivered to the San Dimas area, with paperwork stating they were ‘Achatina Fulica’ and were meant for human consumption, officials stated in a news release. 
 
 “The significant interception of giant African snails is the first time this pest has been encountered in such large quantity and as a consumption entry by CBP in Los Angeles,” said Todd C. Owen, CBP Director of Field Operations. 
 
 CBP officials stated that they submitted an urgent sample to the United States Department of Agriculture plant protection and quarantine entomologists, where a specialist in Washington, D.C., identified them as giant African snails. 
 
 According to USDA officials, these snails are native to Africa and can grow to about 8 inches long, 5 inches wide and live to be 10 years old. They are commonly referred to as giant African land snail, banana rasp snail, margie, West African snail and West African land snail, authorities said. 
 
 Agriculture specialists described these snails as a very serious threat to the natural ecosystem, public health and economy. They are carriers of several parasites that are harmful to humans, one of which can lead to meningitis. 
 
 Due to the nature of damaging effect this snail species may cause, the shipment was transferred from CBP officials to the local plant inspection station for final precautionary steps, USDA officials said. 
 
 “It exemplifies how CBP agriculture specialists protect our nation’s agriculture from the introduction of threatening foreign pests, plants and diseases,” Owens said. 
 
 Being one of the world’s largest land snails, USDA officials said, these pests can consumer over 500 types of plants, and will even eat the stucco and paint off houses. 
 
 CBP officials reported that they took preventative measures to quarantine the snails, preventing them from further spreading.
– A slow-moving Nigerian delicacy was stopped at Los Angeles International Airport when 67 giant land snails were discovered packed in picnic baskets, authorities said yesterday. The live African snails—which can grow to be 8 inches long, 5 inches wide, and live to be 10 years old—arrived with paperwork stating they were for human consumption, but federal authorities say they are a damaging, invasive species, reports CBS. "The significant interception of giant African snails is the first time this pest has been encountered in such large quantity and as a consumption entry" in Los Angeles, a Customs and Border Protection official says. The snails, which carry a parasite that can give humans meningitis, are known to consume more than 500 kinds of plants and USDA officials say they will even eat the paint and stucco off houses when there's no other food around, the Los Angeles Times notes. The snails are generally fried as a snack but the shipment seized at LAX was turned over to the USDA and then incinerated, reports Reuters. Florida has been battling an infestation of the snails for years and has caught more than 100,000 of them.