When the mayor of Maine’s largest city insisted a federal airport-improvement grant doesn’t mean ICE is involved he never mentioned how ‘bushmeat‘ is shipped by air.
Mark Dion took great pains during a news conference he called to say there’s no strings attached to the $18 million federal cash payout.
Unfortunately no legacy reporter was enough on the ball to ask Dion whether monkey meat such as that found at Detroit airport is subject to search at Portland International Jetport’’s baggage carousel.
Apparently monkey meat in airports is a thing, whether or not it’s shipped packed in ICE.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a warning to travelers after recently finding exotic and potentially dangerous meat inside passengers’ luggage at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
Late last month, U.S. Customs stopped a passenger at a Detroit security checkpoint after finding 11 pounds of rodent meat from the West African nation of Togo.
Another passenger carrying 52 pounds of meat from the country of Gabon was stopped just days later. They initially told U.S. Customs that it was antelope, but officials learned it was monkey meat, also known as bushmeat.
Bushmeat refers to meat from wild animals — bats, non-human primates and cane rats — from certain regions of the world that poses a significant communicable disease risk, and is illegal to import into the U.S.,” U.S. Customs said in a press release Wednesday.
The bushmeat was handed over to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “for final disposition” and the travelers were fined $300 each for “undeclared agriculture items.”
Officials said rodent meat is intercepted occasionally at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, but primate meat is much more rare.
“These recent bushmeat interceptions are significant in bringing attention to the illegal importation of bushmeat through our ports of entry,” Port Director Fadia Pastilong said in the release. “This also showcases how we work with our partner agencies to prevent a potential disease outbreak.”
Brunswick, Maine once had a biker bar called the Monkey Bar, its website boasting a stuffed monkey riding a motorcycle “Easy Rider”-style as its logo.
Who knows what biker bars named for primates serves for appetizers.
In a hilariously unrelated development, the Hannaford store in North Windham issued a recall for packages of ground beef sold on Wednesday, as they may contain “foreign material.”
Maybe Spam?
After all, when a Redditor posted a recipe for monkey-meat sandwiches, a commenter said to substitute Spam for the monkey.
