U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists seized 165 cactus plants, succulents and peyote plants, all with root systems at Washington Dulles International Airport recently.
CBP officers initially inspected two shipments that arrived from Thailand by express air delivery services July 10 and July 13.
The shipments were manifested as fabrics, but inside, officers discovered 58 live plants in one shipment, including the six peyote plants, and 107 live plants in the second shipment. All plants had roots, and were packaged and labeled for distribution throughout the United States.
Officers alerted CBP agriculture specialists who determined that neither shipment included U.S. Department of Agriculture permits or phytosanitary certificates required for importing plants.
CBP submitted the live cactus plants to the USDA Plant Inspection Station in Atlanta for identification and/or quarantine. USDA identified the plants as Astrophytum asterias, Discocactus sp., Obregonia denegrii, Acanthocereus tetragonus, Gymnocalycium anisitsii, and Mammallaria elongata.
CBP agriculture specialists consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspectors who reported that many of the 159 cacti and succulents were subject to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) restrictions.
Additionally, the live peyote plants (Lophophora williamsii) tested positive for the presence of mescaline, which the DEA classifies as a Schedule 1 drug.
An investigation continues.
The agricultural threats posed by soil saturated plant root systems are insect hitchhikers, and pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and fungi that cause plant disease), nematodes, and other organisms that could threaten native plants and crops.
During a typical day last year, CBP agriculture specialists across the nation seized 4,695 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproducts, and soil, and intercepted 314 insect pests at U.S. ports of entry. ■