Animals
CBP Thwarts Ant Smuggling Attempts In Los Angeles And Miami
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently thwarted multiple attempts to smuggle ants into the country, including in Tic Tac containers and the false bottom of a shipped parcel.
The CBP Office of Field Operations shared two posts on social media over the weekend showing live ants in shipments intercepted by officers in Los Angeles and Miami.
In Los Angeles, CBP agriculture specialists found live ants in boxes of orange-flavored Tic Tacs shipped from Australia. The insects were seized and sent for identification.
Photos show some of the containers appear to have ordinary Tic Tacs inside, while at least one appears to have granulated sugar along with a live ant.
“No permits, all pests,” CBP wrote alongside the photos. “Protecting U.S. agriculture, one inspection at a time.”
In Miami, a shipment labeled as “gift” was found to have a false bottom, under which 37 tubes of live ants and what appears to be sugar were taped.
“Not your average present!” CBP wrote alongside a photo of the shipment.
The ants were sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the shipment was destroyed.
Cases of ant smuggling have seen an uptick in recent years as part of the exotic pet trade. Keeping ant colonies has become a more popular hobby, resulting in increasing demand for fertile queens belonging to rare or exotic species. The queens are frequently taken from wild colonies and sold to collectors.
