Customs officials at New York’s JFK Airport discovered 35 live finches on a man’s body. The birds were attached to the ankles and the inside of the jacket in small special containers, the US Attorney General said. Accordingly, the man tried to smuggle the finches from Guyana into the country for singing competitions. He was released on bail of $ 25,000.
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During a check, the officers discovered several elongated containers with mesh-covered openings on the man’s body through which the finches could breathe. The man built the small improvised cages out of curlers, as can be seen in photos posted online.
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$ 3,000 wages for transportation
When the officers were questioned, the man said he had been offered $ 3,000 to transport the birds to the United States. He had already received $ 500 as a deposit when he left Guyana’s capital, Georgetown. He was to receive the rest of the money when the birds were handed over in the USA.
Singing competitions with bets on the tenderest animal voices are held regularly, especially in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Finches from South American Guyana are particularly popular because of their melodic voices. A victorious finch can bring in more than $ 10,000, according to a US animal welfare agency.
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It is not the first case of this type in the United States: as early as 2009, customs officials in Los Angeles made a curious discovery. One man had more than a dozen songbirds hidden in his pants. The animals were wrapped in fabric and attached to special stockings under their trouser legs. Songbirds are very rare and are often smuggled into the US from Asian countries. Breeders and collectors in particular are prepared to spend a lot of money on the animals.
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