Some were in crates marked as “pet nail clippers.” Others were hidden under packaged rattlesnakes, a complaint filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn said.
The crates concealed exotic delicacies that were illegal contraband, the complaint said: raw goose and duck intestines, sent from China and destined for New York City shops and restaurants.
Federal agents arrested six people on Tuesday and charged them with smuggling the organs through Los Angeles between August 2022 and May 2023, though the complaint also mentions illicit shipments as recently as January.
The defendants also trafficked in “duck-blood products from unapproved establishments in China,” according to the complaint.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the meat and poultry trade to ensure that imports are safe. The only such imports allowed from China are catfish and “heat-treated/cooked” poultry products, according to the complaint.
But goods seized during the investigation included goose and duck intestines, according to the complaint. In one instance, an investigator observed cartons containing about 3,000 pounds of intestines, it said. In another, a business received about 666 pounds of spicy duck intestine from a vendor who operated using the digital platform WeChat, it said.
