In the News

"Say ... is that a parakeet in your pocket?"

Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Feb 21, 2009

Did you hear the one about the Australian guy who was caught smuggling two pigeons in his pants when he landed at the airport?

This might sound like the start of a bad joke, but it happened recently in Melbourne, Australia.

What bizarre things have people tried to shepherd into Canada?

While waiting in line at Customs, I've jokingly commented: "C'mon, who would hide sharp-clawed or beaked animals in their socks or underwear?" while I read the large "Be Aware and Declare" posters with a photo of a colourful, exotic bird.

"People just aren't aware," says Lisa White, spokesperson with Canada Border Services Agency, explaining the posters. "And we have found some interesting stuff." That includes coveted birds, such as parakeets, and reptiles such as snakes, and their eggs. Some are smuggled into Canada to be pets, but more often they are slated for the huge black market for exotic animals.

Odd items are hidden in some interesting places, too. Armpits (or any other warm spot on the body) are ideal for smuggling reptile or bird eggs because they need heat to survive. False-sided suitcases and using coffee grounds to cover up the scent of an item are also common concealment tactics, says White.

"But it doesn't work" -- not when the trained dogs come sniffing around.

At Calgary International Airport, Rusty, the K-9 Unit's four-year-old beagle is in doggie nirvana, wagging his tail and sniffing around the table filled with bootlegged items in the secondary examination area just beyond the baggage carousel space.

Laura Hiscott, with the agency's K-9 Unit, and White have laid out a miscellany of contraband -- a typical day's seizure -- all of which falls under dozens of Canadian prohibitions. It's also part of border services' travelling road show used to educate the public about the dos and don'ts of importing.

"While we're looking for bad guys and terrorists, we're also enforcing 90 types of acts and legislations," says White, referring to the regulations and laws under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

There are no guns and drugs here, but rather innocent looking souvenirs and foodstuffs.

There's a tortoise shell, a foot-long stuffed iguana, a Cayman (small crocodile) head, cactus rain-stick, peacock feathers and a walrus tusk, all considered parts of endangered species.

Amid the prohibited edibles are a can of haggis, candies made of meat from China, a gnarly looking yam, a bark toothbrush from Africa and a bottle of the popular Mamajuana, a Viagra-like herbal remedy from the Dominican Republic, often found among people in tour groups returning to Canada.

It's a type of bark soaked in rum or other alcohol and mixed with herbs and spices. But it's not the spices, herbs or the toothbrush itself that are illegal -- it's the bark that's banned, says White, because it could contain pests or parasites.

"These items look harmless," says Hiscott, "but they could devastate the agricultural economy, especially in Alberta."

Also on display are a dozen swallows' nests, which are composed of saliva, feces or bugs -- anything the tiny bird might want to use to build its nest in the cliffs of some Asian countries. The harvested nests are a rare and expensive delicacy used to make swallow nest soup. But the Canadian government doesn't want it in the country because of the high risk for disease.

Many of the packaged foods on the table could be found in the Asian section of any grocery store, but the difference is the items we buy here have received commercial certificates and adhere to Canada's food labelling regulations.

If you're caught, or haven't ticked off the box on your declaration form that says "yes" to any of these items, you could face a $200 to $400 fine.

"A lot of travellers do tick the 'yes' box, but a lot of them don't," says White. Many items can be brought into Canada, but it's necessary to fill out the proper paperwork and there are some costs involved. That's what usually deters people, says White.

Unlike the pigeon-smuggling Australian, some people don't realize they are harbouring a stowaway, like the man who caused quite a kerfuffle upon returning from a southern destination. He changed from his sandals into his running shoes in the baggage area, only to see a tarantula scurry out of his sneaker and across the floor. That was one souvenir he definitely didn't want to keep, says White.

For more information about what you can and cannot bring into Canada, go to beaware.gc.ca or call 1-800-O-Canada

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Credit: Lisa Monforton; Calgary Herald; Canwest News Service