Campaign Seeks to Block Transport of Pest-Infested Fruit : Medflies: State officials view the program as an alternative to aerial spraying. A reward of $1,000 is offered for information about smugglers.

Mindful of the public outcry over the use of aerial spraying to eradicate the Medfly, agriculture officials have launched a campaign to educate the public about the danger of bringing pest-tainted fruit into the state.

Valerie Brown, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said a hot line has been set up offering a $1,000 reward for information on anyone smuggling illegal fruit into California.

In addition, the number of federal inspectors has been increased at ports and airports across the state, she said.

“Every day, thousands of pounds of illegal fruit and vegetables enter California,” Brown said Wednesday at a news conference attended by county and federal officials at the Los Angeles Produce Market.

“Some of it is brought in by people who don’t know that produce grown in other countries may be illegal and dangerous,” she said. “On the other side of the coin are commercial smugglers. They don’t care whether their product is infested. They just want to make a quick buck.”

Brown said the state is helping to finance the program with $5.1 million in special fees charged to air and marine carriers that use the state’s ports and airports. The fees already have enabled the state to hire 53 more federal inspectors to check cargo.

The additional inspectors have reeled in more revenue, Brown said. In Los Angeles alone, she said, inspectors have collected at least an additional $100,000 in fines in the last nine months.

One such incident occurred June 29 when inspectors stopped a truck driver carrying 18,000 pounds of mangoes, water apples and guavas concealed in a shipment of legal products, state officials said. The fruit was infested with live maggots of Caribbean fruit flies, which pose a major threat to California crops, they said.

The driver was required to pay to fumigate the truck and bury the infested fruit. He could be assessed civil penalties of up to $10,000, authorities said.

As part of the education campaign, airlines are showing videos urging passengers not to bring illegal fruit. Disposal containers, or “amnesty bins,” have been set up inside airports so that passengers can dump such fruit and avoid fines.

Authorities hope the prevention effort will spare the state another major Medfly infestation.

“The public never felt comfortable with the spraying operation, no matter how safe it was,” said Robert G. Atkins, the county’s deputy agriculture commissioner in charge of pest prevention. “This program tries to stop the problem before it gets to that point.”

In addition to the state’s effort, Atkins said, the county is working with air mail carriers to help them detect packages that may carry illegal fruit.

The telephone number to report illegal smuggling of fruit is 1-800-78-CRIME.