CBP Prohibited and Restricted Items

Recently we went to a Back to School festival near to us. At the event, they had a car show, snacks, booths for school children to get supplies , and also booths from the local police and border protection agencies. One of the booths, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, had a variety of unique items on display, including gem-covered beetles, vials of weevils in food products, leather from a sea turtle and elephant, and a bird claw.

The officer on the right talked about all the items on display. Click to enlarge.

What do all these items have in common? Well, we learned from one of the officers at the booth that these were all illegal items to try to bring over the border. Lets start with the gem-covered beetle.

This is not the beetle the officer had on display, but simply an example.

While this may look like a harmless product, it is actually quite cruel. That is because the beetle is captured while still alive and has the jewels pasted to its back before being put on sale. The officer stated that when he first saw the brooch he had on display, the beetle's legs were moving despite it being pinned to a person's shirt.

The next item were weevils, which are a type of beetle. Most weevils are found in fields, gardens or orchards. A few weevils attack stored grains and seeds. They can be very destructive, and their damage is often very expensive. The most common stored product weevils are the rice weevil. (orkin.com) Although people do not usually try to bring over weevils directly, there is an indirect way to accidentally bring over these pests. The example the officer gave was an avocado seed, in which weevil larva can survive for a long time. If you buy an avocado in Mexico and try to bring it over, most likely you will not be able to unless you remove the seed. 

The third interesting item was animal leather, two examples of which he had were sea turtle and elephant leather. I don't remember where he said he got them, but he did say they were illegally obtained and made into unassuming products, such as belts. The reason they were illegal was because both species are endangered, and thus hunting them for leather is not legal. 

Last was a bird claw, which I believe is illegal for two reasons. One was because the bird was a protected species, and the second was because the bird could have a disease that, if brought over, could infect the animals on this side of the border. 

There were many other items at the booth that were either illegal to bring over the border, or simply gathered to help in the study of wildlife in the area.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been entrusted with enforcing hundreds of laws for 40 other government agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These agencies require that unsafe items are not allowed to enter the United States. CBP officers are always at ports of entry and assume the responsibility of protecting America from all threats.
The products CBP prevent from entering the United States are those that would injure community health, public safety, American workers, children, or domestic plant and animal life, or those that would defeat our national interests. Sometimes the products that cause injury, or have the potential to do so, may seem fairly innocent. But, as you (have seen) from the material that (is above), appearances can be deceiving.
Before you leave for your trip abroad, you might want to talk to CBP about the items you plan to bring back to be sure they're not prohibited or restricted. Prohibited means the item is forbidden by law to enter the United States. Examples of prohibited items are dangerous toys, cars that don't protect their occupants in a crash, bush meat, or illegal substances like absinthe and Rohypnol. Restricted means that special licenses or permits are required from a federal agency before the item is allowed to enter the United States. Examples of restricted items include firearms, certain fruits and vegetables, animal products, animal by products, and some animals.  https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items

I really enjoyed learning about all the items the officers had collected, and found it interesting what can be dangerous despite its innocent appearance. A list of prohibited and restricted items for the border can be found by clicking the link above. I hope you also liked hearing about this important information, and learned something from it. If you have a comment or question, feel free to leave it below or on Facebook.