NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees seized nearly 9 pounds of illegal “bushmeat” from a passenger flying into Newark Airport from Ghana, the agency said Tuesday.
The passenger, who lives in the U.S., declared the meat to a CBP agriculture specialist at the airport, the agency said in a release.
The Centers for Disease Control then “identified the meat as bush meat and advised CBP to seize and dispose of the meat in accordance with CDC guidelines,” the release said.
“CBP Agriculture Specialists made critical interceptions of these prohibited animal products and stopped them from entering the United States before they could potentially cause grave damage to our agricultural and economic vitality,” Troy Miller, the director of field operations for CBP’s New York Field Office, said in a statement.
The CDC defines bushmeat as “meat derived from non-human primates, bats, civets or African rodents, which are potential vectors of human disease,” the release noted.