NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Authorities busted a man at JFK Airport allegedly trying to smuggle in over live finches from Guyana earlier this week.
Kevin Andre McKenzie, 36, was caught by CBP agents on Monday with 35 songbirds stuffed inside plastic hair curlers which were covered with a mesh cloth and then concealed inside his jacket and pants, according to officials.
US Attorney
The agents found the small birds hidden inside McKenzie's clothes after he deplaned from a JetBlue flight originating in Georgetown, Guyana, the criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York said.
The birds are used in high-stakes singing contests popular in some Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods.
A winning finch can sell for over $10,000.
US Attorney
McKenzie allegedly told officials that he had been offered $3,000 to traffic the finches into the US and was allegedly paid $500 before his flight.
He added that he was set to receive the other $2,500 after he got through Customs.
US Attorney
He was charged with the illegal importation of wildlife and was released on a $25,000 bond, the US Attorney's Office said.
If convicted, McKenzie faces up to 20 years in prison.
Last month, customs officers discovered 29 finches hidden in hair rollers inside a a 26-year-old man's baggage at JFK Airport.
Officers found the birds while searching the man's baggage, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a press release.
