ATLANTA -- A traveler tried to sneak a cooked pig in their checked luggage, but a Beagle K9 working at the busiest airport in the world sniffed it right out.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents say Agriculture Detector K-9 “Hardy” alerted them to something suspicious in the baggage of a traveler from Ecuador. When agents opened the bag, they found a nearly two-pound roasted pig head inside.
Agents then seized and destroyed the pig.
The United States does not allow pork products from other continents to enter the country in order to prevent “the potential introduction of foreign animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease, Classical Swine Fever, and Swine Vesicular Disease.”
“Our best defense against destructive pests and animal diseases is to prevent the entry of prohibited agriculture products from entering the United States,” Carey Davis, CBP Area Port Director for the Port of Atlanta, said in a news release. “This seizure at ATL illustrate the tremendous expertise of our four-legged K-9 partners in protecting the United States."
“Hardy” is a six-year old rescued Beagle who began sniffing out suspicious luggage non Atlanta in 2015.
