Twice this week, men arrived at Miami International Airport from Havana and aroused the suspicions of customs officers for the same reason.
Something seemed to be concealed beneath their clothing.
The something, they found, turned out to be clutches of live birds hidden on their persons. In one of the arrests, 10 birds were stuffed in the man’s underpants, according to charging documents. The other man was smuggling 11 birds.
That man, Alberto Hernandez Castillo, disembarked from his flight on Sunday in a pair of gold-sheened sneakers, according to a criminal complaint. He appeared nervous and authorities observed an “unexplained bulge” around his pelvis.
The second man, Roberto Perez Quincosa, 41, who arrived on Tuesday, was also arrested after officials made similar observations about him.
Each man was charged with smuggling.
Authorities have not said if the cases were related. A lawyer for Mr. Hernandez Castillo did not respond to a request for comment. It was unknown if Mr. Perez Quincosa had a lawyer.
A pat-down found that Mr. Hernandez Castillo had black pouches sewn into his underpants, according an account in the complaint from a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations. Nestled inside were six slim tubes, bound in beige tape and affixed with black mesh at the opening. Each contained one or two breathing birds, the complaint said.
Mr. Perez Quincosa had devised a belt-like garment to hold the 11 birds he carried, according to an account from a special agent with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that was included in a criminal complaint. He had used hair roller tubes “with holes along their length and capped with netting material,” wrapped in electrical tape, the complaint said.
Some of the birds that were recovered, such as the two blue grosbeaks that the authorities said Mr. Castillo had on him, are protected species. Eight yellow-faced grassquits were also found on him. Mr. Perez Quincosa had transported six Cuban melodious finches and five Cuban bullfinches, according to the complaint.
Yellow-faced grassquits are native to South and Central America and are named for the bands of yellow above the eyes and across the throats of males. Blue grosbeaks are North American songbirds.
Mr. Hernandez Castillo and Mr. Perez Quincosa were both born in Cuba and are now permanent U.S. residents, according to the complaints. Neither had filed the appropriate paperwork to legally import wildlife into the United States, and they had also checked “no” on customs declarations forms when asked if they were bringing animals or wildlife into the country.
Mr. Hernandez Castillo was released on Monday after posting a $25,000 bond, according to court records. The authorities did not say on Thursday if Mr. Perez Quincosa was still in custody.
Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection referred inquiries to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which said in an email that it could not comment because it was still investigating.
The authorities did not say what happened to the birds, although trafficked animals sometimes are handed over to a zoo or shelter.
Miami is a gateway for smugglers seeking to bring wildlife into the United States from Latin America and the Caribbean, many of them to be offered for sale. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that, globally, as many as 1.5 million birds have been trafficked in a single year. Exotic birds with colorful plumage can sell for a thousand dollars or more. Global profits can reach the tens of billions of dollars, according to Bird Life International, a conservation group.
Last year, a man crossed from Mexico into California with two sedated parrots hidden in his trousers. In 2018, at least 200 finches made their way from South to North America stuffed in plastic hair rollers or in luggage. And six years before that, Interpol raids on airports, post offices pet stores and other settings in 32 countries uncovered more than 8,000 wild animals, most of them birds.
According to the complaints, Mr. Perez Quincosa told law enforcement that he knew bringing in the birds was unlawful and that he intended to breed and sell them for $100 to $120 each. Mr. Hernandez Castillo said that the birds he was carrying were intended for his “personal use,” according to the complaint. He then invoked his right to remain silent.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
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