U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today that agriculture specialists inspected the luggage of all 366 passengers who arrived aboard two flights, a Korean Airlines flight and an All Nippon Airways flight, to Washington Dulles International Airport on Thursday.
The inspection, dubbed Operation Checkpoint, is part of a continuing agriculture enforcement blitz and awareness campaign that focuses on intercepting high-risk agriculture products on flights originating in various nations. CBP inspected 172 passengers from Korean Airlines flight 93 and 194 passengers of All Nippon Airways flight NH002.
CBP fined a Korean Airlines passenger $300 after discovering a package of beef dumplings that the passenger failed to declare hidden in sweet bread. Additionally, CBP agriculture specialists seized 25 pounds of pork products and 11 pounds of beef products from the Korean Airlines flight, and 15 pounds of pork products, one pound of beef products, and four plant cuttings and propagated plant roots from the All Nippon Airways flight.
“We have noticed a correlation between the holidays and an increase of inadmissible agriculture products travelers bring to the United States. We want to raise awareness among international travelers that federal law prohibits the importation of agriculture products from certain nations,” said Christopher Hess, CBP port director at Dulles International Airport.
CBP recently conducted a similar enforcement action named Operation Addis that targeted high-risk agriculture products arriving from Africa.
On November 14, CBP agriculture specialists inspected all 125 passengers who arrived to Dulles aboard Ethiopian Airways flight 500, and discovered two dangerous insect pests in a mango and a host of inadmissible meat and plant products.
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