See all those little guys in that aquarium?
They're leeches.
Real-life, blood-sucking leeches.
They're not from a pond.
They're not from a lake.
They're not from a pet store.
(Well, they may have originally been from one of these places, but that's not where this story begins...)
They're from a guy's luggage.
Now, if it's any consolation, they are medicinal leeches. But that certainly doesn't change the fact that a man brought 4,788 of them from Russia into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
“An enforcement officer detained the leeches to identify the species and determine if the import was lawful."
(I'm sorry. What. There's a way to transport leeches across international borders in a carry-on bag that IS lawful?!?! You're telling me I can't bring home a Costa Rican banana but it's all good if I throw an animal in my bag??? I was under the impression that all of those things were bad. Shows what I know...)
According to Miami Herald, the man was fined $15,000.