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Food

Customs Agents Find 42 Pounds of Horse Body Parts Hidden in Juice Boxes

Two women from Mongolia have joined the insane smuggling tactics hall of fame after being caught with 42 pounds of horsemeat and horse genitals hidden in juice boxes at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Photo via Flickr user Trisha Weir

As we know, people are always trying to smuggle all kinds of weird crap through airport customs, lest we forget those incidents last year when a guy got busted with 51 live turtles hidden in his pants on his way to China or when another gentleman tried to smuggle five raw chickens in his luggage. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, two women from Mongolia have joined the insane smuggling hall of fame after being caught with 42 pounds of horsemeat and horse genitals hidden in juice boxes at Washington Dulles International Airport.

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Horse meat, genitals in juice boxes seized at Dulles https://t.co/gJlwhVPNM6 pic.twitter.com/4MX8TFswIm

— WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) February 17, 2017

The two women arrived at Dulles in late January, and at customs, one of them told officials she had food in her bag. After a search, officials found the meat, which the woman said was horsemeat and "ruminant meat." They also found three liters of yak milk.

"We open their bags and it is sitting right there staring right at us," Stephen Sapp, a spokesperson for the US Customs and Border Protection, told the Washington Post.

Photo courtesy of US Customs and Border Protection

Photo courtesy of US Customs and Border Protection

The horsemeat and yak milk were for consumption, according to the woman, while the horse genitals—all 13 pounds of them—were meant for medicinal purposes.

Alas, everything was confiscated, and the meat destroyed. Horsemeat needs certification if it is to be brought into the United States out of fears of spreading livestock diseases. The women were released without charge.

Sapp said the meat, hidden as it was in juice boxes and without papers, was "not for legitimate food purposes."

If it isn't clear at this point, potential meat smugglers should beware. If customs agents don't catch you, one of those airport sniffer dogs might—after all, a lot of them are more interested in whatever kind of food you've got in your bag than in your pocket vial of crappy cocaine.