CaboRon - 12-12-2009 at 07:14 AM
Holiday border crackdown targets fruit, raw pork
AP News
—
2 days ago Customs watches holiday travelers' stashes for gifts that keep giving, like pests and diseases
The mountain of oranges, tangerines, lemons and more exotic fruits piled in the customs office at the Hidalgo international bridge in Texas on
Thanksgiving Day would have made any grocer proud.
But the booty of Operation Gobble Gobble was destined for the industrial garbage disposal and left the cramped office filled with the sweet aroma of
ground citrus. It was part of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection effort at the U.S.-Mexico border to protect U.S. agriculture from pests and
diseases often carried by popular holiday ingredients.
"At this time of the year, we really do try to raise the awareness of the traveling public on the potential of introducing a pest or disease that
could be damaging to American agriculture," said Diana Vlasik, agency's chief agriculture specialist at the international bridges in Pharr and
Hidalgo, about 150 miles southwest of Corpus Christi.
Among the threats: the Mexican fruit fly, exotic Newcastle disease — an illness fatal to poultry — and bacteria that causes citrus greening, which has
ravaged groves in Florida.
During the holidays, customs officers watch closely for certain fruits, raw pork and long stalks of sugar cane. Those products are banned year-round.
But from Thanksgiving through the New Year, the border is jammed with less experienced travelers visiting relatives in Mexico or the U.S., as well as
those who know better but are willing to risk confiscation and a fine to deliver key ingredients for a Christmas punch or tamales.
Generally, the searches are easier than those for narcotics, which are stowed in tires, gas tanks and secret compartments. These targets are usually
out in the open or packed inside a cooler, an exception being some raw pork sausage packed into a diaper last year.
A few days after Thanksgiving, customs agriculture specialist John Tagle climbed into the bed of a pickup truck at the Hidalgo bridge and popped open
a foam cooler. It contained beef, which is permissible. If it had been raw chicken, it would have suffered 1,400-degree temperatures in a customs
incinerator.
"Usually the public doesn't have a problem with it," Tagle said. "It's just a couple apples. They'll say, 'It was just my lunch.'"
Confiscated fruit is sliced and inspected for signs of pests or disease. If an inspector sees something suspicious, it's placed in an envelope and
mailed to a lab.
The rules can be complicated and confusing to the lay person. For example, avocados with pits are stopped, but without pits they will make it into
someone's guacamole. A four-foot stalk of sugar cane is destined for a customs officer's big knife, but if it's cut into inchlong pieces and peeled it
will likely pass. Lemons are banned, but limes slide through. All manner of plants and soil are prohibited, as are Nativity scenes that use real
straw.
Customs officials recommend travelers leave agricultural products behind or else declare what they have. In that case, authorities will seize items if
they're prohibited, but travelers won't be fined.
A first offense carries a $300 fine. It's $500 for a second.
At the Eagle Pass port of entry, about 140 miles southwest of San Antonio, customs officers handed out $2,300 in fines over the long Thanksgiving
weekend for agricultural violations. Their take could have passed for a border-modified "12 Days of Christmas": 15 guavas, 12 grapefruit, 11 pounds of
sweet potatoes, nearly 10 pounds of pork, six and a half pounds of pork sausage, six avocados, tangerines, apples and four pounds of pork skins.
Confusing to WHO ?
MrBillM - 12-12-2009 at 10:30 AM
Anyone who doesn't declare the prohibited items deserves whatever hassle they get and whatever fine they receive along with an "I are Stupid" award.
The items noted have been illegal to transport for a LONG time and a list is available from any ICE agent. For Anyone with an IQ above "Special-Ed"
level, it's not difficult to figure out.
Having always followed the "Idea" that ALL Fresh Fruits and Vegetables were basically Prohibited (and hating Avacados), back in the early 80s I
answered the usual query at the border by saying that I had none and had passed up the opportunity in Mexicali to buy fresh Pineapples off the street.
At which point, I was told that Pineapples were OK. That's when I requested a list.
tjBill - 12-12-2009 at 01:29 PM
I find the laws quite complicated and avoid bringing anything with fruits or vegetables.
One time at secondary the agent discovered an apple I had forgotten about in the trunk. He just threw it out, no fine or write-up.
Mexicorn - 12-12-2009 at 01:47 PM
I feel so safe knowing the lobbyists for the Fruit and Chicken companies are using our War on Terror resources to find chicken and Fruit Smugglers.
Bajahowodd - 12-12-2009 at 05:05 PM
Ditto.