This sounds horrible. I once had the same problem, coming back to England with a collection of shells from the Philippines. Problem was, I also had a five-year old, very small end-of-joint roach amongst the detritus at the bottom of one of my camera bag pockets. The British customs searched my two bags, and me (in the most embarrassing manner) and found nothing more. The shell collection was in my main bag, so they took them out, unwrapped the tissue paper, and crushed each one, by hand, in front of my eyes. I was let go after agreeing to give a $100 (Pounds50) 'contribution' to the Police charity. Please don't hold out any hopes for restitution. These thugs are employed by your state (as mine) to make sure you know your place. But what were American Customs doing in Nassau? Is that an American colony now ? regards Richard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs To leave this list, click on the following web link: http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1 Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and click leave the list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------