Woman held over airport fish haul

The alleged haul is said to have included snails, a West African delicacy

A woman who was allegedly carrying 186lb (84.5kg) of fish and meat in her luggage has been arrested at Gatwick airport, customs officials have said.

Nenneh Nyana Jaiteh, 48, was stopped at the Sussex airport after arriving on a flight from Gambia, West Africa.

She was charged with breaching laws on the import of meat and other animal products from non-EU countries and is due to appear at court on 16 April.

A Customs and Excise spokeswoman described the haul as "significant".

Goats

Ms Jaiteh, who is Gambian and was traveling alone, is alleged to have been carrying some 173lb (78.5kg) of fish and about 13lb (5.9kg) of meat, including snails, in her luggage.

The produce was packaged and the meat came mostly from goats.

Concerns about the illegal import of meat have been heightened by successive food and farming crisis.

Many fear that disease outbreaks such as avian flu and foot-and-mouth could be sparked by the import of infected meat.