Airport K9 sniffs out mummified monkeys in Boston luggage, preventing "potential danger"
BOSTON - A U.S. Customs and Border Protection K9 detected mummified monkey remains inside luggage at Boston's Logan Airport last month, preventing meat that can potentially carry dangerous diseases like the Ebola virus from entering the country, federal authorities said.
On January 8, K9 Buddey alerted officers to a bag belonging to a passenger who just arrived on a Delta flight from Paris. The person was coming back to the U.S. after visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Customs and Border Protection said.
The passenger said the bag only had dried fish inside, and a luggage x-ray seemed to confirm that. But a physical inspection revealed "the dead and dehydrated bodies of four monkeys," the agency said.
Illegal to bring bushmeat into U.S.
Monkey meat and other kind of "bushmeat" like bats, cane rats and antelope are not allowed into the U.S. because they pose a disease risk. Anyone who tries to bring bushmeat into the country can face a $250,000 fine.
The mummified monkeys were detained for the Centers for Disease Control, which asked Delta to either destroy the bags or send them back to France.
"The potential dangers posed by bringing bushmeat into the United States are real," Julio Caravia, the area port director for Boston, said in a statement. "Bushmeat can carry germs that can cause illness, including the Ebola virus. The work of CBP's K9 unit and Agricultural Specialist were vital in preventing this potential danger from entering the U.S."