CINCINNATI: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture Specialists (CBPAS) at the Port of Cincinnati recently conducted a special operation in a continued effort to interrupt an extensive network of purposely mislabeled and high-risk agriculture products coming from Hong Kong, China, India, and Saudi Arabia.
This special operation took place over an eight-day period highlighting the increasing trend of customers using e-commerce to purchase illegal agriculture products from Asia.
“CBP Agriculture Specialists are the first line of defense to protect US agriculture, forest, and livestock industries from exotic and destructive plant pests and animal diseases,” said Chief Supervisory CBP Officer Angela Dilland. “The success of this operation represents the diligence the Port of Cincinnati Agriculture Specialists demonstrate on a nightly basis as they serve to protect our agriculture industry from these invasive threats.”
In an attempt to evade detection by CBP, shippers and freight forwarders employ fictitious shipper names and addresses, and provide unrelated cargo descriptions in a continually evolving effort to smuggle illicit agriculture goods through ports of entry. The products are en route to various locations throughout the United States, including ethnic restaurants, food stores, and private residences.
Various concealment methods were discovered during this operation. CBPAS found meat smuggled in fish packets and tea bags, fruits inside sealed cookie bags, loose and packaged seeds within candy wrappers, and seeds in foil-lined bags in an effort to avoid x-ray detection.
The prohibited contraband included fresh plums and other fresh plant products, eggs, propagative plant materials including invasive species, and fresh and processed poultry and pork products coming from countries with known virulent disease outbreaks such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
In total, this special operation yielded 1,104 inspected shipments, 73 shipments Returned to Origin (RTO), 198 Emergency Action Notifications (EANs), four mis-delivery penalties, and 98 mis-manifesting penalties netting a total of $98,000 in fines. Additionally, CBPAS destroyed over 900 pounds of contraband from 146 shipments and found 10 pest interceptions.
