(CNN) — United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers inspecting baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport recently discovered an unusual find: three and a half pounds of bat meat.
In addition to bat meat, the traveler also carried prohibited plants in his luggage, including 12 pounds of tetraplura (a West African flowering plant), turkey berries (yellow-green berries of the size of a pea) and eggplant, authorities said.
The plants were seized and destroyed, and the meat was turned over to the CDC for further inspection, CBP said. The traveler was released.
“Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists play a very difficult frontline role in protecting the public, our nation’s agricultural industries, and our economic vitality every day from the deliberate or unintentional introduction of potentially disabling animal diseases that can be carried in passenger baggage,” Daniel Escobedo, CBP Regional Port Manager for the Washington, D.C. Regional Port, said in the statement.
The skeleton of a bat can be seen in the lower left in this x-ray image of traveler’s luggage
United States Customs and Border Protection
Despite these concerns, the bushmeat trade continues to grow due to, among other things, food insecurity.
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