MIAMI: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers working at Miami International Airport (MIA) arrested a passenger attempting to smuggle nine live birds. The passenger was arriving on a flight from Havana, Cuba on Jan. 9.Attempt to smuggle live birds in Miami.
CBP officers selected the individual for further examination. During inspection, CBP officers discovered that the passenger was concealing six birds in a fanny bag and three birds in the groin area. Both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were on-site for the investigation.
The individual was arrested and the birds were turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Miami Quarantine Station. The smuggling of live animals into the United States is illegal per federal law.
“In addition to enforcing both immigration laws and customs laws at the border, CBP enforces laws for many agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Miami International Airport Port Director Christopher Maston.
The men and women of CBP are responsible for enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws and regulations. On a typical day, CBP welcomes nearly 1 million visitors, screens more than 67,000 cargo containers, arrests more than 1,100 individuals and seizes nearly 6 tons of illicit drugs.
