The previous week, US Customs and Border Protection seized a million pounds of illegally-smuggled Chinese pork at Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, part of the busy Port Authority of New York and New Jersey complex.
The operation was conducted to specifically 50 shipping containers. Through the operation, more than 100 CBP agents and K-9 team members found an illegal shipment of cured pork products.
The illegal shipments were hidden within shipments of other consumer goods.
CBP reported that it was likely the largest seizure of agricultural products ever made in the US.
Mainly, Chinese pork is prohibited in the US, in fear of the risk of introducing African Swine Fever, a livestock disease that does not affect people but is deadly to pigs.
Given the level of effort put into concealment of the shipment, CBP believes that the smuggling operation was carefully planned.
As Troy Miller, director of CBP’s field operations office in New York/Newark, commented at a press conference in New Jersey
Agriculture specialists made a critical interception of these prohibited animal products and stopped them from entering the U.S. before they could potentially cause grave damage.
