SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they intercepted a rare and usual insect found in a shipment of fresh celery at the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility, a first-in-port discovery.
On Monday, Jan. 16, agriculture specialists at the cargo facility conducted an inspection of a shipment containing celery that arrived from Mexico.
According to CBP, one of the officers referred the driver and cargo load for an intensive inspection following an initial inspection.
In the inspection area, specialists found a live Chrysomelidae and a live Lepidoptera within the celery.
The pest was submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Identifiers for further identification. The traveler and shipment were then returned directly to Mexico.
CBP says on January 18, the Lepidoptera pest was identified by the local USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) PPQ Entomologist as actionable Copitarsia species.
The Chrysomelidae was also later identified by national specialists as actionable Isotes multipunctate (Jacoby).
As per local USDA APHIS PPQ, this qualifies as a "first-in-port" for Jacoby in the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility.
“Foreign insects, plant and animal diseases, and invasive plants, can be harmful to United States agriculture,” said CBP Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa Hernandez.
“It is an important part of the CBP mission to identify and stop pests and diseases at the border prior to entering the country.”
