U.S Customs Agents Seize 300 Ostrich Eggs in Raid

U.S. Customs agents who seized 300 ostrich eggs, five adult ostriches and four ostrich chicks said Thursday it was the nation’s largest and probably first crackdown on big-bird smuggling.

Treasury Department investigators said the eggs had been acquired in South Africa, shipped to Mexico and smuggled into the United States in violation of federal law prohibiting the import of ostrich eggs.

The Wednesday raids on two warehouses uncovered incubators and documents indicating the smuggling ring had been hatching the eggs and raising birds for sale into a trendy black market for ostrich meat and byproducts.

Customs Agent Robert Keck said the investigation began in October when border agents at San Ysidro made a routine search of a 1978 Chevrolet van entering the country from Mexico and found 327 ostrich eggs.

“It was sort of unusual,” said Keck, who acknowledged that the agents had to double-check federal laws before arresting the driver of the vehicle, Roger Jacobson of Oceanside, on smuggling charges.

Keck said agents suspect other individuals were involved in the smuggling operation and more arrests are expected.

Jacobson’s connection to the eggs and birds found in San Jose was uncertain, the agent said.

The eggs found in Jacobson’s van and those recovered from the San Jose locations were thought to be the only two large seizures of ostrich eggs ever made by federal agents.

Puzzled agents estimated the value of the eggs at $300,000, but referred queries on the motives of the smugglers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Keith Hand of the USDA import-export division attributed the operation to a burgeoning underground industry serving the demands of “health-conscious people” for low cholesterol ostrich meat.

“It’s something that started around 1987,” Hand said, “and has been growing in all directions.”

He said a full-grown bird sells on the black market for $5,000 to $6,000, and fertile eggs are bringing $1,000 apiece. Even infertile eggs can bring $100 as collector’s items, Hand said.

Besides ostrich meat offered in chic restaurants at $7 to $8 a pound, purveyors of the birds also get $300 and up for hides used to make Western boots, belts and purses.

Curiously, although fortunes were once made in South Africa from ostrich feathers, Hand said the current market for the feathers in the United States is “not worth much.”

He added that the USDA is considered legalizing importation of ostriches on a limited and controlled basis.