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Suspected bird smuggler stopped at CJIA

Aug 04, 2009 News

On July 31, Marlon Errol Harriram was searched at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and three rare bird species were allegedly found in his possession.
Yesterday he was formally accused of illegally exporting to the United States.
He pleaded guilty before Magistrate Priya Beharry and offered an explanation.
Harriram claimed that he was taking the birds along with him to the States as his pets, and that he was oblivious to the fact that he needed any documentation for them.
Bird smuggling is in no way a new thing to Guyana. In April of this year, a US-based Guyanese was charged in New York for smuggling 13 finches into the country. In this case, however, the accused admitted that he did not fill out the required declaration forms for the finches.
The accused transported the birds by stuffing them into plastic hair curlers. Harriram, on the other hand, had the two ‘towa towa’ and ‘fire red’ (both finches) in a Samsung video camera case.
The birds are smuggled into the US (particularly Queens, New York) to be used in singing contests. Reports go that two birds are placed in the ‘ring’ side by side and made to ‘sing’. The one that is judged to sing the most times wins the contest.
Their owners take the monetary wagers placed on their bird. Birds that win a fair amount of contests can be worth thousands of US dollars. According to reports, the Guyanese finches are most desirable because they are believed to sing the best, compared to finches out of other countries.
Harriram asked that Magistrate be lenient with him, adding that he was taken off his flight, and that his ticket was also taken away. He was asked to either pay the minimum fine of $70,000 or spend six months in prison.

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