Agents also intercepted several shipments of diseased animals prior to their distribution throughout the U.S., saving countless dollars to commercial industry and risks to public health. Many smuggled animals harbor diseases lethal to humans and domestic animals, causing potential national health risks. Additionally, the illegal animal trade poses dire consequences to the animals themselves. Exotic animals are harvested and transported under inhumane conditions. As many as 90 percent are estimated to die between the time they are poached and when they are transported to the border.
Smuggling threatens many species with extinction.
Agents set out to identify, infiltrate and destroy criminal enterprises involved in smuggling exotic animals into and throughout the United States. To do this agents established an undercover business that gave the appearance of a conduit between illicit foreign exotic animal dealers and U.S. distributors. Undercover Customs agents posing as exotic animal smugglers, successfully infiltrated a network of animal smuggling groups operating along the Southwest border, and documented their illegal activities. The smugglers bought directly from Indians and middlemen in the interiors of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil, Panama, and Mexico, transporting the animals to the U.S. border for resale to domestic buyers. Agents also infiltrated domestic animal smuggling rings providing smuggled animals for resale to wholesalers, bird hobbyists and pet shops.