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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 23, 2019
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
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A short drive thru the Battery Tunnel from Manhattan
sing!
A Connecticut man faces
20 years behind bars for
allegedly trying to smuggle
dozens of live fi nches
through John F. Kennedy International
Airport on Sunday
to compete in Brooklyn
bird singing contests, federal
prosecutors said.
The defendant was
stopped by U.S. Customs
and Border Patrol when
they discovered some 34
birds, each hidden inside
individual plastic hair curlers,
which were stashed in
his carry-on bag during a
fl ight from Guyana to Kennedy
Airport in Queens,
according to a spokesman
for the offi ce of the U.S. Attorney
for the Eastern District
of New York.
All of the birds survived
the trip from the South
American country, according
law enforcement
sources.
The alleged bird smuggler
told the authorities he
planned to sell the birds
at $3,000 a pop — or about
$100,000 for his full fl ock —
to compete in bird singing
contests that usually take
place in parks and public areas
in Brooklyn and distant
Queens, where judges determine
which avian contestants
have the best singing
voices, according to the feds.
And while the defendant’s
birds won’t be singing
any time soon, he immediately
waived his
Miranda rights and admitted
to smuggling the
fi nches through customs to
avoid the quarantine, telling
investigators he knew
what he did was wrong, but
that the money was worth
the risk, according to the
authorities.
Bird singing competitions
are typically accompanied
by betting and a triumphant
fowl can sell for more
than $5,000, the authorities
said.
Although homegrown
finches commonly compete
in the borough’s
bird-singing competition,
their Guyanese cousins
are renowned as worldclass
crooners, making
them highly sought after
in the world of competitive
bird singing, according
to the authorities.
The defendant broke
the law by not declaring he
was bringing in live animals
and by failing to do
the necessary paperwork
to import the birds, which
also have to be quarantined
for 30 days to prevent
the spread of diseases carried
by foreign fowl, such
as Newcastle disease and
bird fl u, according to the
authorities.
The birds are currently
being held by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, according
to John Marzulli,
a spokesman for the federal
prosecutor.
THE PLAN: The defendant
hid 34 fi nches inside plastic
hair curlers, which he planned
to sell for $3,000 each,
prosecutors said.
CAUGHT: The defendant hid the birds inside his carry-on bag while traveling from Guyana to JFK
Airport. Photos courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s offi ce
Feds bust fi nch
smuggler at JFK