Commonground
Senior Moderator
Friday, April 24, 2026
Excerpt:
United States v. Carlos Abundez
On June 25, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stopped Abundez at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. Upon further inspection, a CBP officer found a bound bird that was wrapped in cloth and duct taped under the car’s dashboard.
The officer did not know what the object was until it began to move and flutter. Agents then pried open the side panel of the dashboard and discovered 14 sedated juvenile keel-billed toucans hidden there. Some of the birds sustained injuries including broken tails and a broken leg. Border Veterinary Services treated the birds and then transferred them to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can be dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases.
Keel-billed toucans are native to the region stretching from southern Mexico through Ecuador, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Because of their threatened status, they are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Toucans are sold as pets for up to $5,000 per bird.
The toucans are recuperating at The Bronx Zoo in New York, though they can never be returned to the wild due to health conditions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Toucans at the Bronx Zoo.
https://www.justice.gov/enrd/blog/environmental-crimes-bulletin-march-2026
Excerpt:
United States v. Carlos Abundez
- No. 25-CR-03056 (Southern District of California)
- AUSA Jacqueline Jimenez
On June 25, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stopped Abundez at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. Upon further inspection, a CBP officer found a bound bird that was wrapped in cloth and duct taped under the car’s dashboard.
The officer did not know what the object was until it began to move and flutter. Agents then pried open the side panel of the dashboard and discovered 14 sedated juvenile keel-billed toucans hidden there. Some of the birds sustained injuries including broken tails and a broken leg. Border Veterinary Services treated the birds and then transferred them to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can be dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases.
Keel-billed toucans are native to the region stretching from southern Mexico through Ecuador, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Because of their threatened status, they are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Toucans are sold as pets for up to $5,000 per bird.
The toucans are recuperating at The Bronx Zoo in New York, though they can never be returned to the wild due to health conditions.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Toucans at the Bronx Zoo.
https://www.justice.gov/enrd/blog/environmental-crimes-bulletin-march-2026