Holy snail mucus! You’ll have to drink it to join this sect

Even if you love escargot, this one is hard to swallow. State and federal authorities raided the Hialeah home of Charles L. Stewart earlier this year after learning he had a large box full of snails that grow to be up to 10 inches long, according to a search warrant filed recently in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. And these snails were anything but ordinary … The snails, native to East Africa, are considered highly dangerous because they can consume up to 500 species of plants. They even eat plaster and stucco. Having both male and female reproductive organs, they can lay up to 1,200 eggs a year. Stewart, 48, whom court documents describe as “El Africano” or “Oloye Ifatoku,” said he practices the traditional African religion of Ifa Orisha, which is often confused with the Cuban Santeria. He was able to convince his followers to drink snail juice as part of a religious healing ritual. One witness said Stewart himself eats the raw snails,

according to the warrant. Another witness told investigators that during the ritual, Stewart would grab a snail from the cage and “hold it over the devotee, then cuts the [snail] and pours the raw fluid directly from the still live [snail] into the mouth of the devotee.” Several followers became violently ill, losing weight and developing strange lumps in their bellies, the warrant said, reports The Miami Herald . Consuming snail mucus or eating snail meat as part of a Santeria ritual is “unheard of,” said prominent Santeria priest Ernesto Pichardo. Authorities are warning South Florida residents to report any sightings of the giant snails, which are considered an invasive species harmful to people and Florida plants. Photo: The snails, of the species Achatina fulica, can be imported into the United States only with special permits, and for scientific research only. (USDA) More FloriDUH

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Holy snail mucus! You’ll have to drink it to join this sect

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