Miami airport agents catch another Cuban with 11 live birds hidden under his clothes, he planned to breed and sell them for $120 each

US Customs has caught a Cuban national allegedly smuggling live birds hidden inside his clothing. This is the second case in a three-day span when another man from Cuba was caught in a similar fashion at Miami International Airport. According to a report by the Miami Herald, criminal complaints reveal that the birds were concealed in taped plastic tubes with breathing mesh at the ends; all were somehow hidden within the men's clothing.

The outlet identified him as Roberto Perez Quincosa, a lawful permanent resident of the United States who arrived at MIA on Tuesday, October 6, on an Eastern Express flight from Havana. He reportedly said that he had nothing to declare; however, agents found a “belt-like concealment garment” under his clothing containing the tubes where the birds were trapped, the Miami Herald said, citing a complaint by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The tubes contained 11 live birds, five Cuban bullfinches, and six Cuban melodious finches, as per the complaint. Quincosa explained to the agents that he planned to breed them and sell them in the US for between $100 and $120 each.


Two day before, on Sunday, 40-year-old Alberto Hernandez Castillo, who is a native of Cuba and a legal resident of the US, arrived at MIA on a World Atlantic flight from Havana.

Like Quincosa, Castillo also told the agents that he had nothing to declare. A Customs agent found 10 birds, eight yellow-faced grassquits and two blue grosbeaks, hidden in multiple plastic tubes covered in tape, concealed under Castillo’s pants. Castillo alleged the birds he was transporting were for his “personal use” and was charged with smuggling goods into the United States.

As per the ornithology website Birds of the World, the Yellow-faced grassquit is another name for the Cuban melodious finch. All About Birds noted that blue grosbeaks are widespread but not abundant across the southern US.