Mexican Smuggler Arrested For Allegedly Shipping Human Skulls In Teddy Bears

When one thinks of a teddy bear, chances are nostalgic memories of childhood are evoked. But a new story adds a gruesome twist to the children's plush toy. According to reports, a smuggler in Mexico used teddy bears to smuggle human remains from the country.

According to AFP, remains (including two skulls) were found inside teddy bears at a Mexico City airport shipping company. The heinous discovery was made when employees of the shipping company saw the skulls during a x-ray scan of the the bears in a routine inspection, reveals Mexico City's prosecutor's office. According to the official statement, the remains "appear to have been recently exhumed."

Since the discovery, authorities have found the man responsible for mailing the package and have made an arrest. The man arrested told officers that he purchased the skulls in a Mexico City market, claiming that skulls "are in demand abroad by people who practice santería."

Santería, an Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion, combines Catholic rites with West African Yoruba traditions. In addition to being practiced in the Caribbean, the religion is followed in Brazil and Florida as well.

Last year, two Santería priestesses were arrested at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for smuggling fragments of a human skull and teeth in their luggage in a clay container.