Add horsemeat and horse genitals to the list of head-scratching items people have been caught traveling with.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Thursday that agriculture specialists recently confiscated 42 pounds of horsemeat from a pair of women arriving at Virginia's Washington Dulles International Airport last month.
The bizarre discovery occurred Jan. 29, when officials uncovered the meat packed inside of juice boxes. It included at least 13 pounds of horse genitals and was accompanied by three liters of yak milk.
One of the two women, who were traveling from Mongolia, said the items served medicinal purposes. However, unless accompanied by an official government horsemeat certification from the country or government it originates, horsemeat is prohibited from entering the U.S. due to fears of potentially spreading foot and mouth disease.
The CBP said it incinerated all of the food products and that the two women were released without being assessed any criminal charges.
"Customs and Border Protection takes no pleasure in seizing and destroying travelers' food products," CBP Port Director for the Area Port of Washington Dulles Wayne Biondi said in a statement. "We're in the business of protecting America's agriculture industries, like the livestock industry, from the potential introduction of animal diseases posed by these unpermitted food products."
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According to CBP, it's not uncommon for people to travel with strange food products that are more accepted within their culture. Nonetheless, it encourages travelers to review what they can and can't bring ahead of their trip to avoid having their property seized and destroyed.
While horse genitals are easily one of the craziest items officials at Dulles Airport have uncovered over the years, they join an eye-popping list that includes charred full monkeys, cocaine-stuffed cooked chickens and live seahorses, among others.
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