SAO PAULO: Customs at Sao Paulo’s international airport said on Tuesday they had impounded a cargo containing a ton of human hair from India worth some $400,000.

The importer declared the value of cargo – long pony tails held together with elastic bands and packed into boxes –“as just $15,000 (4,600 euros),” a customs spokesman said. “But during inspection it turned out the true value is $400,000.” Customs also said the importer “was not the real intended recipient of the human hair cargo.” The spokesman did not reveal who the intended recipient was.

But he urged “consumers of this type of product always to ensure if the supplier respects National Sanitary Surveillance Agency requirements” on sterilizing and disinfecting imported hair.—AFP