see also: in 2008 Fiscal Year in Review Field News Releases:   CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for Baltimore Port of Entry   CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for San Diego Air and Marine Unit   CBP Border Patrol Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for El Paso Sector   CBP Border Patrol Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for Ramey Sector   CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for Arizona Ports of Entry   CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for Midwest Ports of Entry   CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2008 Achievements for Buffalo Area Ports of Entry ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Jamaica, N.Y. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection at John F. Kennedy Airport announces its fiscal year 2008 accomplishments which include significant increases in narcotics seizures, inadmissible traveler apprehensions, and pest interceptions.

CBP officers and agriculture specialists at JFK, the nation’s busiest airport for international arrivals, processed more than 11 million passengers arriving on more than 67,000 flights during FY 2008. This represents an almost 7 percent increase in passenger volume over the last fiscal year. CBP’s priority mission is to prevent the entry of persons, narcotics, insect pests or weapons that may pose a threat to our nation and our citizens.

CBP at JFK report the following accomplishments for FY 2008, which started on Oct. 1, 2007 and ended Sept. 30, 2008:

• CBP officers prevented the entry at JFK of 43 foreign nationals, who were identified as potential threats to national security.
• Federal immigration prosecutions increased to 67 in FY 2008; a more than 450 percent increase over last year’s total of 12. Prosecutions included re-entries after deportation, false claims to U.S. citizenship, and alien smuggling.
• Over 220 fraudulent documents were seized.
• Nearly 4,800 apprehensions of inadmissible travelers were processed. Foreign nationals can be found inadmissible for several reasons, including overstaying previous visits, using fraudulent documents, intending to immigrate illegally, or being convicted of committing crimes involving moral turpitude.
• Over 330 arrests were made by CBP officers at JFK for passengers that had outstanding arrest warrants.
• CBP officers arrested almost 200 arriving passengers who attempted to smuggle narcotics into the United States.
• Officers seized almost 500 pounds of cocaine, more than 300 pounds of heroin, almost 300 pounds of marijuana, and over 1,300 pounds of khat concealed within suitcases, on the body, as internal couriers, in food products, laptop computers, prosthetic devices, baskets, liquor bottles, and clothing as well as in mail and express consignment shipments. The narcotics have a street value of almost $40 million. Three of the most notable narcotics seizures involved a U.S. citizen arriving from Trinidad and Tobago in early January who was in possession of two roller bags with over 30 pounds of cocaine concealed in its sides; a green card holder arriving from El Salvador in mid-January who concealed more than 30 pounds. of cocaine inside two roller bags; and a Spanish citizen arriving from Peru via Costa Rica in late August who attempted to smuggle nearly 30 pounds of heroin concealed in spices and food products.
• JFK led the country in the number of internal narcotics swallowers apprehended; during FY 2008, CBP officers at JFK arrested 57 people for attempting to smuggle pellets of drugs in their digestive systems.
• CBP officers seized over $1,850,000 of unreported currency entering the U.S. and almost $6 million in unreported currency leaving the U.S.
• Over 150 seizures of counterfeit goods including wearing apparel and pharmaceuticals as well as over 2,100 seizures of prohibited merchandise such as Cuban cigars were affected by passenger, cargo, and mail operations.
• Over 2,200 civil penalties for agriculture violations were issued during FY 2008, with the JFK Agriculture Contraband Enforcement team issuing over 1,400 of the penalties.
• CBP agriculture specialists made 430 pest interceptions during cargo, mail, and passenger inspections.
• Agriculture specialists at JFK made two significant bird seizures; the discovery of 12 pet birds in the checked luggage of three Chinese nationals in mid-April and the seizure of six live pigeons discovered in the carry-on suitcase of a U.S. citizen arriving from Tel Aviv in mid-September.
• JFK Mail Operations processed over 14,000 seizures of narcotics, controlled substances, counterfeit goods, counterfeit monetary instruments, fraudulent documents and prohibited imports in FY 2008. FY 2008 enforcement activity resulted in a 33 percent increase over FY 2007.
• JFK Mail operations processed more than 5,500 khat seizures with a weight of over 80,000 pounds, representing a 306 percent increase for FY 2008.
• More than 5,300 seizures of counterfeit goods with a domestic value of over $6 million were seized in mail.
• Counterfeit money orders and bank checks with a face value of more than $100 million were seized via mail.
• CBP officers made 188 narcotics seizures discovered in air cargo and concealed on aircraft which include almost 5,900 pounds of khat, more than 1,000 pounds of pseudoephedrine, more than 100 pounds of cocaine, and 145 pounds of marijuana and approximately 24 pounds of heroin with a street value of more than 8 million. Some notable seizures include over 30 pounds of cocaine discovered by Agriculture Specialists while examining a cargo shipment of fresh tomatoes, yuccas, and dasheens arriving from the Dominican Republic in mid-February.
• As a result of joint operations between CBP and the ICE, a total of 30 arrests were made involving internal conspiracies to smuggle narcotics by airline employees at JFK.
• Approximately 480 Intellectual Property Rights seizures involving counterfeit goods totaling a MSRP value of over $310 million were initiated by CBP officers and import specialists in air cargo arriving at JFK.
• Import specialists at JFK initiated several counterfeit cell phone seizures with an MSRP of more than $9.3 million dollars.

“These accomplishments demonstrate CBP’s continued commitment to protecting our ports of entry against any and all threats, including those posed by terrorists and other criminals who attempt to enter our borders,” said Robert E. Perez, CBP director of field operations in New York.

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.