A third passenger, who arrived to Dulles from Cameroon, failed to honestly declare 4 pounds, 6 ounces of beef that CBP agriculture specialists discovered inside her luggage and was assessed a $300 penalty. 

Fruit are potential vectors for invasive insect pests and fruit diseases that could cripple America’s crop industries. CBP enforces USDA’s regulations governing the import of animal products to reduce the risk of introducing exotic animal diseases into the United States. 

“It is very alarming that passengers are taking extreme efforts to conceal agriculture products that should be declared during the Customs and Border Protection arrivals inspection,” said Michael Lovejoy, Director, CBP Baltimore Field Office. “These are very serious threats because of the potentially severe agriculture and economic consequences that plant and animal diseases pose. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists take their job of protecting America’s agriculture very seriously.” 

CBP employs several tactics to ensure passenger compliance with U.S. agriculture laws. First is the CBP Declaration Form which asks travelers to truthfully declare what they are bringing to the U.S. A CBP officer will ask those questions again during the primary arrivals inspection.  

A CBP agriculture detector dog, a beagle, patrols the primary and baggage return floors searching for agriculture products. Some passengers, and in some cases entire flights, may be referred to a secondary examination where CBP x-rays baggage, and if necessary, opens and searches baggage.