Bonsais to Brooklyn
Only few days before the Chinese New Year, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Cincinnati were inspecting incoming freight from Shenzhen when they found a shipment full of live plants. Agriculture specialists unpacked 21 small trees, likely intended to become bonsai specimens.
The trees were layered with various coverings—fabric padding, black plastic, bubble wrap, and, finally, tightly bound with coloured tape—presumably as an effort to circumvent inspection. The shipping documentation stated the package was coming from an electronics company in China and headed to an individual in Brooklyn, NY.
In order to be legally imported into the USA, all propagative materials require a valid phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin, and some species require a USDA Import Permit as well. Specialists destroyed the trees in accordance with USDA regulations. (ah)