DULLES, Va. (7News) — 7News was granted exclusive access at Dulles International Airport to watch Customs and Border Protection workers on Monday.
Many people might not realize that one of their priorities is preventing miscellaneous agricultural products from entering the country.
Last week, agents at the airport seized nearly 140 pounds of a kind of shrub from Egypt that was bound for Sacramento, California.
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“Declare it to the officer, and we’ll let you know if it’s trouble or not,” said Josue Ledezma, supervisory agriculture specialist at Dulles.
He said there’s been even more activity at the airport with the World Cup. Last month, his agents helped process all of Team Croatia.
“They’re coming from all over the world in this case, a lot of these soccer players, they bring in food, but the thing is, a lot of this food can be prohibited,” he said.
Ledezma showed us the entire process along with other agents.
After baggage claim, it starts with Freddie and his handler, Melissa Snyder.
When 7News was there, the 6-year-old K9 found a passenger with a roast beef sandwich.
That didn’t warrant a fine because the passenger had declared.
“It’s more just if there was something and it ended up in the environment and say got eaten by local wildlife, it could spread to a farm,” said Snyder.
Last week, Freddy found a huge haul of yams, peppers, and other things you can’t bring.
“I come from a family that has a real history in agriculture, so it’s nice to know people are preventing things from coming in and harming our crops,” she said.
The fruits and veggies wind up in an industrial garbage disposal.
“We first inspect fruits and vegetables to make sure they don’t have any pests or diseases. Once there’s nothing over, we bring them over to the grinder, we grind them, and they are disposed of according to USDA regulations,” Ledezma said.
If it’s something else, like meat or plants, it goes into a shipping container off the tarmac.
There are fines if you don’t declare your food or any other banned items.
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According to CBP, it’s $300 for a first-time offense. But agents said that’s not their goal.
“It’s unintentional for so many of them; that’s where we come into play,” he said. “They’re coming from all over the world. In this case, a lot of these soccer players bring in food, but the thing is, a lot of this food can be prohibited.”
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