A woman was caught trying to smuggle two lbs of raw human placenta stuffed in plastic bags and hidden inside her luggage at an international airport in eastern China.
Agents at the Jiaodong Airport in Qingdao, in Shandong Province, noticed there was an unusual package stuffed inside the female passenger’s suitcase during an X-ray scan.
The woman, whose identity was not revealed and who had just landed was pulled aside for an inspection.
Video footage shows airport staff searching through her belongings when they came across a suspicious insulation bag.
Upon a closer look, they discovered it had been stuffed full of human placenta.
The organs had been wrapped in three layers of plastic bags and weighed approximately 0.95 kilogrammes [2.09 lbs].
Human placenta and other human tissues are special items subjected to strict regulation in China. Customs have legally confiscated the item and will proceed with the necessary measures according to regulations.
It is unclear where the woman was arriving from or if she has been arrested.
In China, as in many other cultures, human placenta has been used in traditional medicine practices for centuries.
It is often considered to be a rich source of nutrients, hormones, and growth factors.
Traditional Chinese medicine sometimes employs placental tissues, believing they contain nutrients and other beneficial substances that can aid in healing and provide health and cosmetic benefits.
