OFFICIALS in Canada have acted swiftly to clamp down on the illegal import of leeches, which are regulated by Health Canada as medicines under the country's Food and Drugs Act.
Last week a man from Niagara Falls, Ontario, was fined a whopping $15,000 after he was arrested at Toronto Airport because security officers found almost 5,000 live leeches writhing around in his carry-on baggage.
Ippolit Bodounov pleaded guilty to violating the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International an Interprovincial Trade Act - and if that doesn't quite trip off your tongue, don't worry - you can also use the more convenient acronym WAPPRIITA.
After identifying the species (pictured) as Hirudo verbana - a restricted leech when collected in the wild - regulators had to make sure the blood-suckers were illegal, and conducted extensive investigations including getting the American Museum of Natural History in New York to analyse the DNA of their gut contents.
The outcome clearly indicated that the creatures did not originate in captivity, and Bodounov was subsequently charged because "over-harvesting of medicinal leeches from the wild is a major threat to the species".
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 30 May 19
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