Overview

• CBP agriculture specialists at Detroit Metropolitan Airport intercepted two illegal shipments in late July within a week of each other.
• Agents found 11 pounds of rodent meat from Togo and 52 pounds of primate meat from Gabon that a traveler had declared as antelope.
• The seized items were transferred to the CDC, and each traveler received a $300 penalty for undeclared agricultural items.
• Importing bushmeat is prohibited in the United States, with CDC warnings of infectious threats such as Ebola and mpox and potential fines up to $250,000.
• Officials noted rodent bushmeat turns up sporadically at Detroit, while primate meat discoveries are much rarer, underscoring ongoing interagency public‑health enforcement.