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Spanish singer, Julio Iglesias, had his bags seized by customs officials in the Dominican Republic after more than 92 pounds of fruit, vegetables, and meat were discovered. The smuggled items were discovered when the Grammy-winning artist arrived from The Bahamas.
Iglesias splits his time between The Bahamas and Punta Cana. He lives with his wife, Miranda Rijnsburger, in the latter. Upon arrival, agents found strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, tomatoes, beets, celery, beans, spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, and meat. All of these items are forbidden for entry from another country due to customs laws and fears of invasive insects and other pathogens.
On January 10th, the 80-year-old singer arrived at Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) on a private Gulfstream aircraft. Sources say that Iglesias is a repeat offender in trying to bring produce from other countries into the Dominican Republic.
The Minister of Agriculture confirmed the seizure and explained why it was conducted:
We have an alert and we have a very strong surveillance throughout the national territory. You know that there was a sporadic incursion of the Mediterranean fruit fly (agricultural pest) [and] all the vigilance, and it is not focused on him or anybody in specific; it pertains to everybody. We are strengthening everything a country has to do to protect itself. Remember that we are an open and free country, with more than 400 flights a day, eight airports, many ships coming and going.”
Anthony’s Take: Bringing fresh produce and meat into other countries can lead to huge fines and the loss of enrollment in Trusted Traveler Programs in the US. It’s not been disclosed why Iglesias was trying to smuggle his groceries into the Dominican Republic.
(Featured Image Credit: Dominican Today.)
(Image Credit: Marca.)
(H/T: View from the Wing.)
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1 comment
Reminds me of the old days when Paul and Linda McCartney kept getting busted for bringing pot along for their travels. The part that mystified me was that they would bring it in internationally after many prior instances when visiting places where it was readily available like Jamaica. For Julio, maybe he just wanted higher quality produce than could be easily obtained in the DR.