Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has the third-busiest port in the country. And, as part of that distinction, every day someone tries to smuggle drugs, jewelry, even wildlife into or out of the port. Every day, inspectors seize at least one item.
Those confiscated items are taken to a special U.S. Fish and Wildlife warehouse. Many of the 500 items on its shelves carry fascinating stories.
“This is an elephant skin boot. This is a lizard skin boot. And we've actually taken boots off people's feet and made them walk through the airport barefoot,” says inspector Chris Andrews.
There are the usual beach treasures, and some rather unique items.
“This is a trumpet shell and I don't think the average person would suspect that shells would be protected,” Andrews says.
Among the unusual items -- “These are some seal penises.”
People try to smuggle some interesting stuff into and out of the airport.
“We’ve received reports that since Viagra came out, there hasn't been a single rhino poached in Africa. Because it's used as an aphrodisiac and I guess Viagra is cheaper than your average rhino horn,” he says.
Caviar from the endangered sturgeon, a mounted cobra from Thailand, a whale’s tooth from Hong Kong, even snake wine.
“There's a checkered keelback snake in here,” he says.
The leopard cat from Southeast Asia was an easy find. “The way we nabbed this one was his paw was sticking out of the guy's hand-carry,” Andrews says.
The inspectors are sometimes called the fashion police. “This is a purse out of North Africa, and my favorite is the legs on the back and the nice sewn-in head,” Andrews says.
A man once walked through the airport carrying a monitor lizard from the Philippines. He said he didn’t know it was illegal.
“Generally, with the tourist souvenirs, we just allow people to abandon it unless we know they have a previous instance of smuggling,” Andrews says.
There are several bear gall bladders, which are considered an aphrodisiac in Korea. “We actually found one smuggled in a lady's bra cup.”
Inspectors are trained to identify the bone, fur or skin of nearly every animal, which helped in the seizure of a carved horse sculpture.
“It came into one of the express cargo facilities here in Anchorage, declared as a wood carving with a fairly high value,” Andrews says. “We generally like to look at shipments with high-value carvings. It was covered in shoe polish and the inspector was smart enough to grab it and it started wiping off and he was able to identify the squares as elephant ivory.”
Wildlife has become the third-most smuggled item, behind weapons and drugs.
“They've said that smuggling wildlife has become more lucrative than smuggling drugs because the penalties generally aren't as severe and the profit margin is higher. So instead of cocaine coming out of Columbia, we've started seeing an influx of live tropical parrots,” Andrews says.
With four people inspecting 50 shipments each day, the Port of Anchorage does its part. If you’re traveling overseas, you can do yours.
“When in doubt, do without.”
The most commonly smuggled items include coral, Asian medicines and furs. Depending on the crime, the person could do jail time.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be displaying some of the confiscated items Feb. 22 during the Alaska Pacific University career fair.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks