Customs Officers On Watch For Guns, Drugs And ... Food?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Guns and drugs are not the only items being seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Federal agents are going after smuggled goods that could bring foreign bugs and diseases into the United States.
CBS 2's Dave Savini went behind the scenes with federal agents to get a first-hand look at the potential dangers.
One of the grossest rooms at O'Hare International Airport is filled with bugs, slugs and diseased and banned food. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscate potentially harmful meat and plant products.
There is produce infested with bugs – including mangos carrying an insect that could wipe out certain crops. Other contaminated items are put under the microscope, then destroyed.
A chunk of meat was found in one person's luggage and another traveler actually carved a hole in a book to smuggle in sausage. We found a smuggled ham leg. These are potential dangers, because they come from countries with swine flu or foot and mouth disease, which could endanger livestock.
Also found in luggage was a 100-year-old fermented egg. It's a delicacy in parts of Asia, but it is banned in the U.S. because of bird flu, a disease that can jeopardize the poultry industry.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Brian Bell says smuggled food is a daily problem.
"Hundreds of pounds of food inside bags ... every single day at this airport," says Bell. "We have seen monkeys, various animal parts. We've seen parts that we can't even identify what animal they are from."
A primate from Ghana was seized at O'Hare, as was an anteater. Both meats are eaten in some African countries. Bell says primate meat can be deadly to humans because of diseases they carry.
Customs officials have help in their search for smuggled food. A dog named Shelby, a beagle, has detected enough smuggled food to fill a warehouse, says handler Jennifer Miller.
"Last month alone, she had 557 finds, over 130 kilos, which is about 300 pounds of fruit," said Miller, a canine officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In fact, Shelby had 3,000 seizures last year. Confiscated were things like rice loaded with bugs, fruit with bacteria that can cause canker in citrus, and olives from the Middle East that were loaded with Mediterranean flies.
Officers say the Asian Longhorn Beetle came into Chicago through an international flight. A cargo shipment was suspected in that case.
