MIAMI: Assembly lines of flower inspectors were sifting through boxes of roses and baby’s breath during the busiest plant processing week of the year.
By the time Valentine’s Day rolls around that US customs and border protection specialists will have picked and plucked through more than 80 million tons of flowers, Stephanie Purtell, CBP inspector, said.
“We agitate the flowers in hopes that any insects that are in there will fall on the paper where they’re easier to see,” Purtell said.
Standing in a giant cooler, these professionals work to make sure the bouquets are bug-free, protecting our agriculture and floral industries from harmful pests and diseases.
“We’re looking for pests and aphids. Our inspectors are really scientists in uniform,” said Gil Kerlikowske, CBP Commissioner.
CBS4’s Gaby Fleischman, at Miami International Airport, was there as a crew was processing about 22 million flowers a day. Most shipped in from countries in South America, including Colombia and Ecuador.
