Mummified Monkeys and Harlequin frogs in baggage surprise officials at US airports

Dogs at Boston Logan Airport smell out mummified monkeys, following another finding of Harlequin frogs at American airports.

Staff at Boston Logan Airport were caught aback when a security dog discovered mummified monkeys in the luggage of a customer coming from Africa.

The customer returning from a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo indicated that the suitcase contained dried fish, but an investigation at Boston Logan Airport found the lifeless and dehydrated remains of four monkeys, authorities said.

According to the Independent, Ryan Bissette, a CPB representative, stated on Sunday that the traveler imported the monkeys into the US for personal use.

Because of the danger of infection, consuming raw or barely processed wild animal meat, popularly known as “bushmeat,” is illegal in the United States.

“The risks associated with smuggling bushmeat into the United States are serious. Bushmeat can carry pathogens that might cause sickness, such as the Ebola virus,” warned Julio Caravia, Customs and Border Protection’s local port director.

Although the event occurred last month, news of it spread on Friday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified the approximately 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of bushmeat for destruction, Bissette said on Sunday. Although no charges were filed, all of the luggage was confiscated.

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Additionally, 130 Harlequin frogs were discovered in the bag of a Brazilian woman who was traveling to Sao Paulo via Panama earlier this month. She faces accusations of wildlife trafficking.

Authorities arrested the alleged smuggler on Monday at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport after discovering the deadly creatures packaged in small film canisters.

Officials described the frogs, commonly known as poison dart frogs, as “stressed” and “dehydrated.”