For the second time this week, a man has been arrested at Miami International Airport while trying to smuggle birds into the U.S. from Cuba, authorities said.
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Roberto Perez Quincosa was taken into custody at MIA on Tuesday after arriving on a flight from Havana, an arrest affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, U.S. Customs and Border Protection searched Perez Quincosa’s luggage and found nothing, but when they performed a pat-down they found 11 hair roller tubes containing live birds.
The tubes had holes along the length and were capped with netting-like material then bundled with black electrical tape.
They included 5 Cuban Bullfinches and 6 Cuban Melodious finches.
According to the affidavit, Perez Quincosa told investigators he intended to breed and sell the birds in the U.S. for $100 to $120 each.
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Perez Quincosa, who’s a native of Cuba but a lawful resident of the U.S., is charged with smuggling goods into the United States.
It’s the second arrest at the airport this week of a man arriving from Cuba who was found with birds hidden under his clothes.
On Monday, 40-year-old Alberto Hernandez Castillo was found with 10 birds that were inside plastic containers that were sewn into his underwear, authorities said.
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Hernandez Castillo is facing similar charges.