Man held in Mexico after spices mistaken for drugs

SAN DIEGO – A Nigerian-born U.S. citizen spent two days in a Tijuana jail after Mexican authorities mistook the soup spices he was bringing to his nephew in Mexico for an illegal drug.

San Diego social worker Okoronkwo Umeham (oh-koh-RUHN'-kwoh oo-MAY'-ham) said Tuesday that he was detained while crossing the border on March 15 because inspectors thought he had five bags of khat, a stimulant popular in East Africa.

Umeham says he was bringing ingredients for ugu (oo-goo), a spicy Nigerian soup, to his nephew who lives in Tijuana.

He says he didn't speak Spanish and couldn't explain that the labeled packages were dried fish, spices and vegetables, not drugs.

Federal prosecutors in Tijuana say they had to test the substances.

Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego.com

Burglar enters NJ restaurant, cooks chicken, flees

HILLSDALE, N.J. – Police in a New Jersey town say someone broke into a restaurant and cooked a chicken and rice dish before fleeing — leaving behind a pile of dirty dishes.

They say the hungry burglar on Saturday broke through an exhaust fan in the back wall of the Matsu Sushi Grill in Hillsdale, a town of 10,000 residents just northwest of New York City. The burglar got chicken from a freezer and cooked it with rice in a frying pan.

Detective Robert Francaviglia (frank-uh-VIL'-ee-uh) says the burglar ignored $200 in the cash register and took only the chicken and rice. He says the culprit may have been a homeless person searching for food.

Police say the break-in is similar to one at a nearby fried-chicken fast-food restaurant last year.

Swiss designer creates dinosaur dung watch

GENEVA – A Swiss watchmaker is hoping to raise a stink with an expensive timepiece that eschews the trade's standard gold, diamond or titanium fittings for a more earthy substance — dinosaur dung. Vesenaz, Switzerland-based company Artya says the watch set in fossilized feces will sell for 12,000 ($11,290) and comes with a strap made with skin from an American cane toad. Designer Yvan Arpa said Monday the coprolite came from a plant-eater that died about 100 million years ago in what is now the U.S. MORE

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Boozy chimp sent to rehab

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday. An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to draw with markers and picked up his two vices. Full Story »