Customs agents seized a small box containing giraffe feces from a woman who arrived in Minneapolis last week from a vacation in Kenya.
The woman from Iowa voluntarily declared the small box of giraffe feces when her belongings were selected for inspection upon her arrival, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Thursday. While her identity remains undisclosed, she explained to officials her intention to use the feces as a crafting material for making jewelry, much like her previous endeavors with moose feces.
CBP officials have emphasized that carrying fecal matter into the plane and into the country raises significant concerns for both human health and the well-being of livestock.
“There is a real danger with bringing fecal matter into the U.S.,” LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Customs and Border Protection’s Chicago field Director LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, said in a statement published through CBP. “If this person had entered the U.S. and had not declared these items, there is a high possibility a person could have contracted a disease from this jewelry and developed serious health issues.” (RELATED: Drug Smugglers Caught Trying To Float Nearly 650 Pounds Of Marijuana Across The Rio Grande In A Chevy Trailblazer)
Customs agents seized and destroyed a box of giraffe poop at a Minnesota airport after a woman brought the feces to the U.S. from Kenya, officials said Thursday. https://t.co/rnHDRxpEPP
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 6, 2023
Fortunately for the traveler, she won’t face any sanctions or penalties in this case, as she declared the feces and surrendered it to customs willingly. Giraffe feces can indeed be brought into the U.S. under specific conditions, including obtaining the necessary permits and undergoing proper inspections, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
“We were really a little shocked. We don’t normally get fecal material in. That’s not something that we see on a daily basis,” Lauren Lewis, chief of agriculture for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said in a statement. “Normally, we are inspecting a lot of fruits and vegetables and meats and plants that people are bringing back. So fecal material that people were intending to bring with them was an unusual declaration for us.”