U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) canines and their handlers are hard at work safeguarding our borders and our nation’s food supplies. Here is just a sampling of the outstanding seizures that they are making around the country.

June 20, 2004
Antelope Wells, N.M.
When the driver of a 1989 Chevy Silverado pick up truck tried to enter the United States, CBP Officer K-9 Bryant noticed non-factory fuel tanks on the vehicle that were similar to tanks on a previously seized vehicle that contained narcotics. CPB Officer K-9 Rhonda Bryant had her assigned Narcotic Detector Dog (NDD) “Toey” go over the car. Toey alerted to the presence of narcotic odor on the driver’s side toolbox resting on the fuel tanks.

A fiber optic scope was used to look into the fuel tank. Shiny scratches consistent with non-factory welds could be seen. The vehicle was transported to the Columbus Port of Entry (POE) for dismantling. The fuel was drained from the tank and drilled. The drill bit extracted a green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana. Once the fuel tank was dismantled, four steel containers containing marijuana were removed. The total weight of the concealed marijuana was 329.5 pounds.

June 24, 2004
Long Beach, Calif.
Canine “Tassie” and her handler, CBP Agriculture Specialist Canine Officer Georgina Cervantes, were inspecting de-vanned cargo of 1,421 cartons of "General Chinese Foodstuffs" when Tassie scratched excitedly on several stacks of "hot pepper pastes and sauces" in jars. Closer inspection revealed what appeared to be cubed chunks of meats—possibly cubed pork and/or cubed chicken in each of the sealed jars.

Tassie also alerted to foil packages of foodstuffs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collected samples for lab testing and the importer was requested to provide the ingredient lists for the hot pepper pastes and sauces. Several pallets stacked with the products were detained.

FDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service testing results of the “hot paper pastes and sauces” were “Not Acceptable: Poultry and Pork detected.” Due to the presence of the meat products, the cargo had to be re-exported or destroyed. It was destroyed.

June 27, 2004
Presidio, Calif.
CBP Border Patrol Agents Jonas Edwards and Matthew Kushner brought a White and Grey colored 1992 Chevrolet Silverado to the Port of Presidio. BP Agent Edwards requested a canine to search the vehicle. CBP Officer K-9 Carlson and his K-9 partner "Lea" conducted a sweep of the vehicle. Lea alerted on the front passenger tire, the front driver side tire and the undercarriage below the driver side floor pan. The vehicle was x-rayed using a mobile gamma x-ray system. Officer Faupel noticed anomalies in the tires and the floor of the vehicle. Officer Britton used a density meter and received high readings on the floor and the tires. Officer Faupel used a portable drill on the floor of the vehicle revealing a green leafy substance. BP agents arrested both subjects and took the vehicle to the Presidio BP Station where a total of 222 bundles were removed from the vehicle with a total weight of 274.66 pounds.

June 28, 2004
Miami International Airport, Fla.
CBP Agriculture Specialist Canine Officer Jim Silverio was working with his canine “QT” on the baggage floor at Miami International Airport. They approached a woman in a motorized scooter style wheel chair and QT alerted to something underneath the wheel chair. Agriculture Specialist Silverio got down on the floor and looked under the platform base of the wheel chair and noticed some black cloth pouches strapped to the bottom. He pulled one of the pouches out and asked the woman what was inside. Silverio opened the pouch and saw a bird inside. He reached under the chair again and pulled out another three pouches.

He requested the woman’s passport and asked her to stay where she was. He went to the baggage inspection area to report the incident to Agriculture Supervisor Gary Horn. When Silverio returned with fellow officer Eduardo Sotolongo, other passengers said that the woman was at the far end of the baggage floor with CBP Officer (K-9) Diana Coursey. The woman had been seen trying to hide another black pouch on top of the metal cage behind the baggage claim area.

There were five pouches in all, each containing four plastic tubes. Each tube had one to three birds inside. There was a total of 39 birds, (19 Bull Finches and 20 Cuban Melodious Finches). Some of the birds were dead before they were taken out of the tubes and some died shortly after.

Photo Credit: James Silverio

Some of the tubes used to smuggle the Cuban and Bull Finches.

July 8, 2004
El Paso, Tex.
CBP Officer K-9 Jose Madrid and his canine “Zeus" were conducting a pre-primary roving operation when Zeus alerted to the passenger-side front fender of a 1998 green Chevrolet Malibu. A visual inspection of the front fender/bumper area revealed tape wrapped bundles inside the fender well and inside the wheel-well area. A bundle was removed and probed which produced a white, powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine. Thirty-five bundles, with a total weight of 86.9 pounds, of Cocaine were removed from the front fenders/wheel wells.

July 23, 2004
Otay Mesa, Calif.
CBP officers conducted a gamma ray examination after narcotics detector dog, "Robbie" alerted to a tractor-trailer when it entered the compound. The officers conducted an inspection of the trailer and confirmed a false front wall behind which officers found 4,300 pounds of marijuana. The driver, a 33-year old resident of Tijuana, was arrested. EC