Thread: Todays seizures, arrest, drug bust, etc.

Customs officials catch some bizarre booty

9:23 PM, Jul. 7, 2012
Written by
SAMANTHA RAPHELSON | Courier-Post Staff

PHILADELPHIA — Many international travelers are taking cues from drug smugglers.

Except narcotics aren’t their contraband of choice.

When a traveler flew in from Europe recently, Customs inspectors seized a souvenir snack from Spain — a cured 12-pound swine leg, complete with hoof. And if a massive ham bone seems outlandish, that’s nothing compared to other bizarre items seized from arriving passengers at Philadelphia International Airport.

“You can spend a week in an airport and see something different every day,” said Steve Sapp, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Sapp notes inspectors once opened a suitcase to find supplies for voodoo rituals — including a bedsheet coated in animal blood, birds’ feet, dead rodents and animal bone fragments. A traveler from Israel arrived with a dead bird intended as a gift for his sister. And a third flier carried a plant that had been wrapped in foil, then decorated.

“Plants with soil are prohibited because the soil may contain dangerous micro-organisms and the plant may have a plant disease,” said Sapp. “We’ve seen creative concealment methods for secreting plants, but disguising it as an aluminum foil plant, compete with plastic leaves and flower petals, has to be one of the more ridiculous and least creative attempts yet.”

Inspectors at the Philadelphia airport routinely seize African bush meat, European pork products, and fruits that travelers picked up at overseas hotels or airports, said Sapp.

The items — including monkey arms meant to be eaten — are confiscated to avoid bringing agricultural diseases into the country.

“On a typical day, CBP agriculture specialists seize about 4,300 prohibited plant, meat and animal byproducts at our nation’s ports of entry across the country,” Sapp said. “We see more agriculture violations than narcotics.”

Sometimes, travelers are unaware of offending items.

The CBP on Friday said its agriculture specialists, in a first for the Philadelphia airport, had found a red palm mite on hats and a bowl made from palm fronds that a traveler brought from Jamaica last month. The tiny bug, known to feed on many palm species, is a “serious pest risk” for subtropical areas of the United States, the CBP said.

In the case of the ham bone, the Maryland-bound traveler apparently did not know he needed government certifications to bring the leg into the country. Sapp noted the traveler had declared the swine leg, which was visible as soon as officers opened his bag.

“When you bring something like that into the country, there’s really no other intent than to eat it,” said Sapp.

The restrictions on importing meat and meat products frequently change as a result of disease outbreaks in different parts of the world, he said. If a contaminated product reached American livestock, the fallout could cost billions of dollars.

Most agriculture products are placed in trash bags that are burned every 72 hours. Fruit, wood and some plants are taken to a grinding room where they are inspected for insects.

But determined travelers often try to beat the system, said Angela Allen, a supervisory agriculture specialist at the Philadelphia airport.

“I’ve had people who come over with meat and say, ‘I want to turn this in,’ ” she observed. “We take their bag and run it through the X-ray machine, and their bags are loaded with more meat,” she observed.

Others pretend they can’t speak English — until a fine is issued, and then they become fluent, said Allen.

“We expect passengers to be completely honest with us from the moment they get off the airplane,” Sapp said. If they aren’t forthcoming, the CBP can assess a civil penalty at $300 and up to $1,000 for repeat offenders.

Passengers are not fined if they declare items on their Customs forms, said Allen.

Some tourists don’t fare well at smuggling.

One traveler, likely returning from a drug-enhanced vacation in the Netherlands, returned with hash-filled lollipops. In that case, inspectors might have been tipped off by the container — a large package that read “Hash Pops.”

In contrast, drug smugglers take more sophisticated measures to avoid detection.

“It’s become an art form,” said Dale Markowitz, a supervisory CBP officer, who noted these suspects often swallow drugs after coating them in wax. Rookie “swallowers” usually carry 25 to 50 pellets, he said, but one woman from Nigeria arrived in Washington, D.C., with 190 pellets in her body — a record for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Officers usually detect swallowers by their behavior and through interviews. The person often has taken something to slow the digestive process, which makes them sluggish, Markowitz said.

Travelers should visit the CBP’s website for a full list of prohibited items.

“It could save them time during their return inspection, and possibly even save them money they might have spent on prohibited products,” Sapp said.

ON THE WEB
• To learn what you can and cannot bring to the United States, visit CBP Travel Spotlight

Customs officials catch some bizarre booty | Courier-Post | courierpostonline.com

CBP Officers at Del Rio Seize Assault Rifles Bound for Mexico

(Monday, July 09, 2012)

Del Rio, Texas – A Ciudad Acuña man is in custody after attempting to smuggle assault rifles out of the United States.

Rifles seized by CBP officers included two AR-15s, one AK-47, and one SKS.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Del Rio Port of Entry selected a 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck for inspection as the vehicle was leaving the United States, bound for Mexico. During initial inspection, CBP officers found two rifle magazines in the driver’s pockets.


During an intensive inspection of the vehicle, officers discovered four assault rifles and an additional magazine hidden under the bedliner of the pickup. Rifles seized by CBP officers included two AR-15s, one AK-47, and one SKS.


The weapons and driver, a 33-year-old Mexican national, were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.


“Preventing firearms from illegally being exported from the United States is an important function of CBP officers at the Port of Entry,” said Michael Perez, CBP Port Director, Del Rio. “Officer training and experience are vital tools in intercepting a variety of prohibited items.”


U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Department of Homeland Security

CBP Officers at Del Rio Seize Assault Rifles Bound for Mexico - CBP.gov

San Luis CBP Officers Seize Meth, Marijuana

Drugs valued at nearly $312,000

(Monday, July 09, 2012)

San Luis, Ariz. — A 38-year-old local woman and a 22-year-old Yuma man were arrested this week for attempting to smuggle narcotics into the United States through the San Luis Port of Entry.

Packages of methamphetamine concealed in the vehicle frame of Hyundai sedan.

San Luis resident Laura Luisa Rivas was attempting to enter the United States yesterday when Customs and Border Protection officers referred her for inspection. Following a narcotics detection canine alert for drugs inside the vehicle, officers located 15 packages of methamphetamine in the vehicle frame. The drugs, weighing more than 18 pounds, had an estimated value exceeding $281,000.

Yuma resident Jose Manuel Alvarez was arrested Tuesday for attempting to smuggle nearly 61 pounds of marijuana through the port.

Customs and Border Protection officers referred Alvarez for a secondary inspection of his Chevrolet truck. A routine check of the vehicle led to the discovery of 22 packages of marijuana, weighing nearly 61 pounds and valued at more than $30,000, inside a spare tire.

The drugs and vehicles in both cases were processed for seizure. The subjects were arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Individuals arrested may be charged by complaint, the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Department of Homeland Security

San Luis CBP Officers Seize Meth, Marijuana - CBP.gov

FBI E-Mail Updates

- New Orlean; Washington, D.C. Three Defendants Plead Guilty to Disaster Fraud Related to Joplin Tornado Benefits July 9, 2012 - Kansas City Robbery of Capital One Bank Branch in Houston July 7, 2012 - Houston New Haven Man Pleads Guilty to Role in $10 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme July 6, 2012 - New Haven Sugar Creek Man Charged with Bank Robbery July 6, 2012 - Kansas City Attempted Robbery of Bank of America Branch in Houston July 6, 2012 - Houston Joplin Man Pleads Guilty to Internet Gambling July 6, 2012 - Kansas City

FBI In the News www.fbi.gov

9 July 2012 Last updated at 04:39

US agents shoot dead Honduras 'drug flight pilot'

Honduras is a key stopover for traffickers moving drugs north to the US

Two agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shot dead the pilot of a suspected drug flight last week, a DEA spokeswoman has said.

It happened on 3 July when a small plane being tracked by Honduran and DEA agents crashed in eastern Honduras.

One of the two pilots was shot after "resisting arrest", the spokeswoman said.

It is the second fatal shooting by DEA agents who are working with local police to intercept drug flights.

DEA spokeswoman Dawn Dearden said on Sunday that the security forces found two pilots at the crash site south of Catacamas.

One pilot was injured and taken into custody.

The second "ignored orders to surrender and was shot after making a threatening gesture," Ms Dearden said.

Honduran police recovered about 900kg of cocaine from the aircraft.

In June, a DEA agent shot a suspected drug trafficker in northern Honduras, while an anti-narcotics raid in May involving a team of Honduran and US agents led to the deaths of four people.

Local people said those killed were innocent passengers on a river boat at night.

Since April, the Honduran and US authorities have stepped up efforts against illegal drug flights.

The operation is run with six US state department helicopters and a special team of DEA agents working with Honduran police, a US official in Honduras told the Associated Press news agency.

Honduras is a key stopover for traffickers smuggling drugs from South America to the US.

BBC News - US agents shoot dead Honduras 'drug flight pilot'

Fake watches seized in record bust

By Stephanie Ibarra
Updated 11:16 p.m., Friday, July 6, 2012

LAREDO — More than 1,000 counterfeit watches, with a retail value of almost $30 million, were recently seized at a local port of entry in the crossing's largest valued counterfeit goods seizure.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said about 1,120 Louis Arden and Audemars Piguet replica watches were confiscated when they announced the June 29 seizure Friday morning.

The load reportedly entered the country via a port in California from Hong Kong and was shipped to Laredo, headed for Mexico.

Nancy Becker, Laredo CBP field operations acting director, said goods from China accounted for more than 60 percent of total domestic values for all intellectual property rights seizures in 2011.

Uribe said that though the batch had no Audemars Piguet markings and was not made of the same materials, the manufacturer's intellectual property rights were protected via the faceplate's trademarked design.

Items that infringe on trademark, copyrights and patents are considered thefts of intellectual property.

Charges have not been filed against the truck driver transporting the goods or the company behind the import. Becker said the case remains under investigation.

Joe Uribe, Laredo CBP port of entry assistant port director, said the 1,120 watches would be worth an estimated $28.7 million if they were authentic.

Becker added that the production and transportation of counterfeit items threatens “America's economic vitality and international security.”

“Trading these illicit goods funds criminal activities and elicits crime,” Becker said. “To protect both the private industry and consumers, CBP has made intellectual property rights a priority.”

CBP officials said that in terms of domestic value, watches ranked seventh in seized commodities in 2011.

sibarra@lmtonline.com

Fake watches seized in record bust - San Antonio Express-News

Mexican authorities seize half-ton of marijuana in Juárez

Daniel Borunda / El Paso Timeselpasotimes.com
Posted: 07/07/2012 05:17:22 PM MDT

Mexican federal police intercepted a half-ton of marijuana in Juárez after stopping armed men in two vehicles speeding on the Chihuahua City-Juárez highway, officials said Friday.
Federal police seized an AK-47 rifle, a .380-caliber handgun and sacks filled with 1,000 packs of marijuana in the back of a van, officials said. The marijuana weighed about 1,100 pounds. A black Ford Explorer that was also stopped had been reported stolen.

Police arrested David Vargas Gurrola, 40, Lorenzo Javier Hinojos, 36, and Briand Jasethe Avalos Alarcon, 21

Mexican authorities seize half-ton of marijuana in Juárez - El Paso Times