Polly Wants a Lawyer: Parrot Smugglers Busted Along Texas Border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, TX, recently stopped smugglers from illegally transporting three parrots into the country. As silly as it sounds, this is actually a legitimate crime in America.

Toucan Play at That Game

The parrots were found after a 39-year-old Mexican citizen and his 37-year-old female companion were stopped by border agents for secondary inspection on January 4.

The vehicle they were driving, a 2022 GMC Denali, was then searched. This was when officers discovered three Red-Lored parrots partially concealed within their personal belongings.

This is the type of parrot in question:

The pair were actually arrested by Homeland Security once the smuggling attempt was busted. The parrots were safely turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fowl Play Suspected with Exotic Bird Smuggling

Illegally transporting exotic birds into the country is, in fact, quite illegal. Can you blame this couple who got busted though? I mean, Red-Lored parrots can sell for up to $2,500 each.

If you do want to bring an exotic bird into America from another country, you must follow the legal set of steps in order to not be arrested on the spot and have Tweety taken away from you.

This process is actually quite lengthy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service outlined seven steps when re-entering the country.

You can check out the full list here, but essentially, you need to make sure you have all the paperwork, permits, and vaccination records on hand before you travel from most foreign countries.

The bird will then have to be tested for any harmful avian flu symptoms or any other newfangled foreign disease.