K-9 "Kody" Sniffs Out Prohibited Sausages at Newark Airport

An arriving passenger was ‘sniffed’ out by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) K-9 at Newark Liberty International Airport, who was trying to import 88 pounds of homemade pork sausages into the U.S., reports the CBP.

CBP agriculture specialists conducted a canine examination of luggage originating from Kosovo on Jan. 8, when K-9 Kody alerted his CBP handler to a suspicious suitcase.  The arriving passenger claimed the suitcase and declared that he had “homemade sausages,” CBP reports.

“The importation of swine meat, though seemingly harmless to the general public, could cause grave damage to our economy and agricultural industry, and CBP does its part in keeping these prohibited items from entering the United States,” said Troy Miller, Director of CBP’s New York Field Operations, in a release.

Pork is prohibited from Kosovo as per 9CFR94 of the USDA regulations. The passenger was released without a penalty, since he declared the “homemade sausages.”

CBP’s agriculture specialists are the front line in safeguarding America’s agricultural resources. As threats of foreign animal disease emerge across the globe, CBP is the first line of defense to keep these diseases from reaching U.S. soil. On a typical day in fiscal year 2019, CBP agriculture specialists throughout the nation seized 4,695 prohibited plants, meats, animal byproducts, and soils and intercepted 314 insect pests.

In late December, thanks to significant efforts from the National Pork Producers Council, $635 million to fully fund U.S. agriculture inspectors was included in an omnibus funding measure that passed Congress. 

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