see also: in September 2008:   Ramey Border Patrol Sector Sponsors Intelligence Training   CBP Arrests Woman at California Port after Discovering 3 Hidden Females   Laredo Sector Border Patrol Agents Rescue Lost Alien   Customs and Border Protection Warns Floral Importers About Unripe Poppy Pods   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Failing to Register as Sex Offender   El Paso CBP Officers Discover 3,000 Pounds of Marijuana in Shipment of Watermelons   CBP Seizes More Than $360,000 in Undeclared Currency ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Los Angeles - U.S. Customs and Border protection agriculture specialists have intercepted two insects and one plant disease foreign to the United States. These species had never been seen in the United States.

CBP agriculture specialists routinely examine commodities for insects and diseases prior to entry into the United States at seaports, air cargo facilities and international airports.

On September 4, CBP agriculture specialists at Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport inspected a shipment of Italian ceramic tile infested with an unknown insect. The insect was later identified by the Smithsonian Systematic Entomology Laboratory as a Cerambycidae which is a type of wood boring beetle. The beetle is known to eat and destroy wood. Wood boring beetles are a serious threat to hardwood trees. If they become established, they could cause significant damage to U.S. agriculture, destroying millions of acres of America’s treasured hardwoods. The ceramic tile was fumigated to avoid the chance of proliferation of the beetles.

On August 23, CBP agriculture specialists at Los Angeles International Airport inspecting a shipment of fresh cut flowers originating from the Netherlands discovered an unknown insect. The insect was later identified by USDA as a Sibinia primita, another type of beetle never before seen in the United States. These beetles are normally found on fresh cut flowers, greenery, nuts and grain products. They feed off these plants and lay their eggs causing the larvae to eat the plant from inside out. The importer was given the options of re-exportation, fumigation or destruction of the flowers. The importer opted for destruction.

On July 17, an agriculture specialist at Los Angeles International airport inspecting fresh green Lovage leaves carried by a passenger arriving from Romania discovered the leaves were infested with spores. The spores were later identified as rust disease. This type of rust had never been seen in the United States and it could have devastating effects on the cereal, grain, turf grass, and cut flower/nursery industries. The leaves were destroyed on site to avoid the spores from spreading; the spores are airborne and may travel great distances.

Whether by air, sea or land, CBP agriculture specialists are the first line of defense protecting the borders from prohibited items which can carry harmful plant pests and diseases.

On a typical day in fiscal year 2007, CBP seized 4,296 prohibited meat or plant materials, including 164 agricultural pests at U.S. ports of entry.

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 the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.