Rabat customs officer in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) confiscated Nine dinosaur teeth from Morocco at the end of January.
The fossils were hidden in an Express freight car that drove from Spain to Italy, the authorities announced on Friday.
On the A8 motorway, customs agents inspect these trucks every day. They transport hundreds of packages between private individuals in Spain and Italy, and officers often discover drugs such as cannabis and cocaine, said Samantha Verduron, deputy regional director in Nice.
While trained dogs help to detect narcotics, civil servants also openly open up parcels. On January 27, they found nine tall teeth in two packages for recipients near Genoa and Milan.
An expert from the Museum of Regional History in Menton identified The fossils as the remains of prehistoric reptiles, which lived in Morocco 72 and 66 million years ago.
The confiscated objects included a Zarafasaura Ocananis’ tooth, a sea reptile with an exceptionally long neck, three Mosasaurus teeth, a predator known from the Jura world, and five petrified teeth, which are assumed to be dyrourus Phospaticus, an ancestor of the crocodile.
French law prohibits possession, import or transport of archaeological artifacts without proper documentation.
The investigators are now working to pursue the intended recipients and determine the next steps. Such discoveries often lead to the return of artifacts to their country of origin.
France has returned Moroccans Fossils in the past. In 2020, the authorities presented over 25,000 artifacts, including fossils, minerals, polished stones and art objects that customs officials had confiscated in 2005 and 2006 during the operations in Arles and Perpignan.
Many of these objects came from illegal excavations.
