BOSTON (WHDH) - When you head to Logan Airport, you see passengers, luggage and security.
But what you don’t see is the hidden items that could pose big health and safety risks. Federal agents showed 7 Investigates what they have confiscated and it’s not what you would expect.
At Logan Airport, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents meticulously scan bag after bag, relying on special training to find illegally smuggled goods.
“Anything and everything that gets put in a bag, we’ll find it,” US Customs and Border Protection, Assistant Port Director of Logan Airport, Daniel Joyce said.
If something doesn’t seem right, they waste no time conducting a thorough search.
“As you can see these items here we recently seized off passengers coming into Boston Logan Airport,” Joyce said.
Agents have found dangerous drugs, undeclared cash and some unusual discoveries.
“To carry anything illegal, or unapproved across borders, absolutely puts public health at risk,” Infection Prevention Director Martha Wassell at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital/MGB said.
Border agents blocked this package from Asia containing bird saliva and parts of a nest, the ingredients for bird’s nest soup. Some consider this a delicacy, but allowing it to cross our borders could lead to people getting sick.
“Bird droppings are risky,” Wassell said.
“It’s a high risk to transmit avian flu,” Joyce said.
Agents also confiscated 26 pounds of fresh quail eggs from a passenger’s bag.
“It could spread salmonella,” Wassell said.
U.S. Customs officers screen more than 17 thousand travelers a day in Boston. They say undeclared food products brought in from overseas can create big problems.
“Micro-organisms and pests can hitchhike on just about anything,” Wassell said.
“We’ll see the stuff every day. Some people are surprised,” Joyce said.
Our cameras were rolling as several bags of food were taken from this luggage.
“If i knew that before, I wouldn’t take it,” Bich Dirn said.
Items like this fresh fruit may seem innocent, but they’re banned from entering the country.
“A lot of times they have stow away bugs on them that could wreak havoc,” Joyce said.
“It could absolutely effect the food chain,” Wassell said.
The search for contraband doesn’t stop with luggage on the conveyor belt.
Agents at the seaport are constantly scanning giant shipping containers like these for illegal items as well.
Searches have lead to thousands of confiscations, including generic botox that’s not approved to be sold in the US.
“You’d be injecting this into yourself. How safe is that?” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Supervisory Officer, Rob LaVita said.
Health experts say this smuggled vial is not FDA approved and could result in botched Botox treatments.
“It can be extremely dangerous. It can effect one’s ability to breathe so that can cause death,” Dr. Neelam Vashi, dermatologist at BU/Boston Medical Center said.
But US Customs agents are looking for much more than cosmetic risks – they are looking to stop terrorism. That means searching for explosives, guns, and other deadly weapons.
“It’s a huge win for us when we can get those.
We’re out here every single day doing the best that we can to protect the country,” LaVita said.
Planning to travel abroad, and not sure what you can bring back into the country?
Click on the link below to see what’s allowed, so you can keep your keepsakes.
https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-3619?language=en_US
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