27634: (news) Chamberlain: Skull In Luggage (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb 10 (AP) -- Airport baggage screeners found a
human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she
intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday.
   Myrlene Severe, 30, a Haitian-born permanent U.S. resident, was charged
Friday with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper
documentation.
   Customs and Border Protection officials found the head Thursday, after
Severe arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Lynx
International Airlines flight from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said Barbara
Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in
Miami.
   "It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez
said.
   Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use
as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote
in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
   "Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil
spirits," Hernandez wrote.
   Severe, who also was charged with failing to declare the head and
transporting hazardous material in air commerce, faces a maximum of 15
years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
   Severe remained held Friday in lieu of a $100,000 bond. She is due back
in federal court March 2.