Monkey Carcass, 125 Lbs Illegal Meat Seized
- Agriculture specialists intercepted prohibited meat shipments from African countries at O'Hare Airport. - Seizure included a monkey carcass and 125 pounds of illegal beef products. - Incident underscores ongoing efforts to prevent disease-carrying animal products into Chicago patch.com
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at O’Hare seized a monkey carcass and 125 pounds of banned meat from two arriving travelers on April 11. (cbp.gov) The monkey was found after officers sent a traveler from Cameroon to a secondary agriculture inspection and spotted an anomaly during an X-ray of the luggage. The remains were detained and destroyed, Customs and Border Protection said on April 22. (cbp.gov) In a separate inspection the same day, a traveler from Liberia tried to bring in 125 pounds of prohibited ruminant meat. Agriculture specialists said they found meat, bones and hair hidden inside dried seafood in eight boxes, and the traveler said the concealed meat was beef. (cbp.gov) The Liberia seizure also included one pound of fresh leaves and four types of seeds for planting. Customs and Border Protection said seafood can be allowed in, but ruminant meat from some regions is barred because of diseases including bovine spongiform encephalopathy and foot-and-mouth disease. (cbp.gov; ecfr.gov) “Bushmeat” is meat from wild animals, including nonhuman primates, bats and antelope, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it can carry communicable diseases. The agency says bringing bushmeat into the United States is prohibited and seized products are destroyed at the border. (cdc.gov; cdc.gov) Customs and Border Protection says its agriculture specialists work at 328 ports of entry to stop foreign animal diseases, invasive pests and contaminated plant material before they spread inside the country. Acting Chicago field operations director Michael Pfeiffer said the volume of prohibited items intercepted each day shows how routine those checks are. (cbp.gov; cbp.gov) The case did not involve criminal charges in the agency’s release, but Customs and Border Protection said travelers who fail to declare agricultural goods can face civil or criminal penalties. At O’Hare on April 11, that enforcement ended with both shipments removed from circulation before they left the inspection area. (cbp.gov)
