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A female airline passenger was arrested after landing at a Florida airport with what appeared to be a human head in her luggage, US immigration officials said Friday.
The woman, identified as Merlyne Severe, a 30-year-old Haitian resident of the United States, arrived at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport north of Miami late Thursday on a flight that originated in the northern Haitian city of Cap Haitien.
Authorities were trying to determine whether the head was human.
"It was not like a skeleton and bones-type of skull -- it had teeth, hair and skin, and quite a lot of dirt," Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Miami, told AFP.
Severe was arrested on a smuggling charge and appeared Friday before a federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
It was not immediately known whether she remained in custody or had been freed.
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AFP 101951 GMT 02 06
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