Last month, agriculture experts from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Washington Dulles International Airport found more than two pounds of snake meat in the luggage of a traveller.
This person was coming from Equatorial Guinea, and CBP farm detector dog Freddie, a four-year-old male beagle, let them know.
Snake meat is a popular source of protein in Equatorial Guinea, but it is illegal to bring it into the United States because of agricultural laws.
The meat was held by CBP officials while they talked to wildlife inspectors from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
The USFWS controls the import of wildlife and found that the snake meat did not have the right licences and paperwork, which is against the Lacey Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
On September 12, CBP took the snake meat and gave it to wildlife officials.
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