US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has revealed how a K9 unit intercepted a suitcase from Thailand carrying banned meat, produce and a live reptile after it arrived in Los Angeles.
The CBP Office of Field Operations, headquartered in Washington, DC, posted on Facebook yesterday, July 20, detailing how its beagle, Maisy, alerted agents to the bag on arrival from Thailand.
Agents opened the Thailand suitcase to find nearly 22 kilogrammes of meat, some of it raw, including moo yor (Isaan pork sausage) and hot dogs. Also packed inside were mangoes, garlic, bamboo shoots and banana flowers, weighing a further 13 kilogrammes.
A CBP photograph of the seized items also showed a pile of leaves in the top left corner that resembled kratom, a controlled substance in the US. The agency’s statement did not identify the leaves.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took custody of a Bengal monitor lizard weighing seven kilogrammes that was found in the same bag.
Announcing the seizure, CBP posted a photo of Maisy alongside the confiscated items with the caption, “If you discovered all this in a suitcase, wouldn’t you be this happy?”
General sentiment in the original Facebook post from CBP focused on how large a suitcase would need to be to fit everything found, while others asked whether the lizard had been seized dead or alive.
Several commenters praised Maisy’s detection work. Some suggested tougher penalties should apply, including fines above US$10,000 (roughly 350,000 baht), jail time and a travel ban, for whoever attempted to bring the items into the country.
Earlier in May, a Malaysian man was arrested at Suvarnabhumi International Airport after officers found 251 live wild animals hidden inside his suitcase, including hornbills, iguanas, monitor lizards and turtles.
He faces charges under the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act, the Customs Act, the Animal Epidemics Act and the Fisheries Royal Decree, while the seized animals remain under the care of the Wildlife Conservation Office.
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