"Head found in luggage at airport tied to voodoo"

Friday, February 10, 2006

Head found in luggage at airport tied to voodoo 
The Associated Press 


FORT LAUDERDALE - 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 United States 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.

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.

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