The embellishment was so far fetched, its chances of being believed were less than a wing and a prayer.
When U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents questioned what was behind the “abnormally bulging” groin of a Tijuana resident as he attempted to cross the border late last year, the 35-year-old responded it was just part of his natural male anatomy, according to federal court documents.
But inspection officers weren’t buying it. Officers searched him and found two emaciated and potentially sedated orange-fronted parakeets—the victims of an alleged botched smuggling attempt — stuffed in his underwear, according to court documents.
Jesse Agus Martinez, an American citizen, was charged with one felony count of importation contrary to law following the Oct. 23 incident. He’s pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. A call to attorneys representing Martinez and the government was not immediately returned.
The case was one of two recent smuggling attempts in Southern California highlighted in a report released Thursday from the criminal enforcement division of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the second case, prosecutors say a man tried to smuggle 14 keel-billed toucans, which he had concealed inside the dashboard of his Volkswagen Passat. Carlos Abundez pleaded guilty to smuggling the toucans and is expected to be sentenced in March, court records show.
Wildlife smuggling has been a persistent problem for officials, particularly in Southern California. Between 2015 and 2019, federal wildlife officials seized 48,793 live animals at the border, according to a report by the nonprofit Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums.
Smuggled birds made up roughly 8% of the cases, according to the report.
In Martinez’s case, officials said he’d tried to cross into the U.S. on foot via the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with the clandestine birds when his bulge was discovered.
Martinez twice denied he had anything to declare and even opened his arms to display his body to inspectors, according to court documents.
As he was being questioned, a customs official checked department records and found that Martinez was stopped on Sept. 10. At that time, he attempted to cross with a parrot in a towel under his arm, according to court documents.
That bird was eventually euthanized.
This time, Martinez was moved to a secondary inspection area. He insisted multiple times that the source of his bulge was his manhood, using Spanish slang to describe his penis, according to court documents.
The inspector located two opaque brown sacks, each with an unconscious but still breathing bird, in Martinez’s pants, according to court documents.
Martinez claimed the birds, which are native to Mexico, were his and that he hid them because he lacked paperwork to legally cross with them, according to court documents.
The birds were placed in a cage with food and water and were later moved to a Department of Agriculture center in New York. Despite their unusual travel circumstances, wildlife officials wrote in court records that the birds are “doing well.”
