Rabat – Customs officers in Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) seized nine dinosaur teeth from Morocco in late January.
The fossils were hidden in an express freight truck traveling from Spain to Italy, authorities announced on Friday.
On the A8 motorway, customs agents inspect these trucks daily. They transport hundreds of parcels between private individuals in Spain and Italy, and officers often uncover drugs such as cannabis and cocaine, explained Samantha Verduron, deputy regional director in Nice.
While trained dogs help detect narcotics, officers also open parcels at random. On January 27, they found nine large teeth inside two packages bound for recipients near Genoa and Milan.
An expert from the Museum of Regional Prehistory in Menton identified the fossils as remains of prehistoric reptiles that lived in Morocco between 72 and 66 million years ago.
The seized items included a Zarafasaura oceanis’ tooth, a marine reptile with an exceptionally long neck, three Mosasaurus teeth, a predator known from Jurassic World, and five fossilized teeth believed to belong to Dyrosaurus phosphaticus, an ancestor of the crocodile.
French law prohibits the possession, import, or transport of archaeological artifacts without proper documentation.
Investigators are now working to trace the intended recipients and determine the next steps. Such discoveries often lead to the repatriation of artifacts to their country of origin.
France has returned Moroccan fossils in the past. In 2020, authorities handed over 25,000 artifacts, including fossils, minerals, polished stones, and art objects, that customs officers had seized in 2005 and 2006 during operations in Arles and Perpignan.
Many of these items had come from illegal excavations.
