Punta Cana—Technicians from the Plant Quarantine Inspection Service (AIPC) of the Ministry of Agriculture seized a cache of fruits, vegetables, and meat from Spanish artist Julio Iglesias at the Punta Cana airport in Higüey.
In Iglesias’ luggage, the inspectors found 42.16 kilograms of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, tomato, beet, celery, beans, spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, arugula, and chicken meat that he tried to bring into the Dominican Republic.
The internationally renowned artist was caught with the cargo from the Bahamas on flight number N768JJ last Wednesday night when he tried to smuggle the seized fruits and vegetables in his luggage.
Agriculture’s Plant Health director, Rosa Lazala, gave the information through the Public Relations Department. Lazala did not provide the name of the Spanish artist who brought the fruits and vegetables from the Bahamas but was identified by airport sources.
These sources said that Iglesias is a repeat offender in bringing fruits and vegetables from other nations into the country.
He said that the country’s Health and Quarantine technicians reinforced the surveillance and inspection, pre-checking, and checking of luggage and all passengers in the ports and airports of the national territory.
He indicated that the Ministry of Agriculture is also applying these controls at the land border entry points to ensure that no animal or vegetable-origin product that could endanger national production enters the country.
The Ministry of Agriculture informed that together with the International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health (OIRSA), a permanent alert is maintained at all entry points to Dominican soil as part of the protocol activated after detecting the Mediterranean fruit fly species.
This flight was detected for the second time in the province of La Altagracia, which was introduced by tourists who disembarked at the Punta Cana airport.