Bushmeat Smuggling Foiled At Detroit Airport Raises Health Alarms

Bushmeat may be considered a delicacy in other continents, but here in the United States, not only is it illegal, but it poses a serious disease risk. So when the United States Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist discovered this coming into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last month, some serious concerns were raised.

Bushmeat is basically meat from wild animals like bats and non-human primates, and cane rats.

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The meat comes from certain regions, these ones in particular from the continent of Africa, that could’ve seriously led to some disease spreading. They recently alerted the public to when this happened and how it happened twice within a week:

In the first instance, a baggage examination yielded 11 pounds of rodent meat from Togo, a country in West Africa, while another just days later resulted in the discovery of 52 pounds of primate meat, which was declared as antelope, from the Central African nation of Gabon. Both travelers also had additional, undeclared agriculture items in their possession.

Even bringing this crap into the country can cause a very big problem, as Port Director Fadia Pastilong explained:

These recent bushmeat interceptions are significant in bringing attention to the illegal importation of bushmeat through our ports of entry. This also showcases how we work with our partner agencies to prevent a potential disease outbreak

Why anyone would bring in something that looks like it's got the voodoo put on it into Michigan makes no sense to me. Amazingly, each traveler who had this on them were only fined $300 each.