Border Patrol seizes 2 valuable Amazon parrots

[March 29, 2011]  LA ROSITA, Texas (AP) -- U.S. Border Patrol agents have made an unusual bust while patrolling the U.S. shore along the lower Rio Grande near Rio Grande City.

A Border Patrol statement issued Monday says the agents were working near the river Sunday afternoon when they spotted two people walking north, carrying what appeared to be a birdcage. When the agents hailed the pair, the two fled into nearby brush. A search turned up the birdcage containing the two parrots. They were taken to the Rio Grande City border crossing and turned over the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which will turn them over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Border Patrol statement says the birds are valued at about $500. Under international treaties, trapping of wild parrots are illegal.

[Associated Press]

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