An Egyptian traveler has been kicked out of the United States after he pleaded guilty to violently booting a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) dog at Washington Dulles Airport with such force that the pooch was lifted off the floor.
The CBP Beagle, who is called Brigadier Freddie, was rushed to a veterinary emergency room where he was treated for contusions to his right forward rib area.
The shocking incident occurred in the early hours of June 24, as luggage from Egypt Air flight 981 started to make its way onto the carousel in the international baggage reclaim hall at Dulles.
Freddie is a five-year-old CBP agriculture detector dog who was working with his human partner to find any illicit agricultural products that passengers from the Egypt Air flight might be trying to smuggle into the United States.
According to a criminal affidavit filed in federal court, Freddie alerted to a piece of luggage on the carousel and attempted to inspect the bag for potential contraband.
The owner of the luggage, 70-year-old Egyptian national Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, approached the pair and violently kicked Freddie.
Surveillance camera footage from the baggage reclaim hall showed the moment that Freddie was physically lifted off the floor by the force of the kick.
CBP officers bundled on top of Marie, handcuffed him, and turned him over to Homeland Security so that he could be taken into custody.
Inside the luggage, agents discovered a trove of illegal contraband, including 55 pounds of beef meat, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers, and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds, and a pound of herbs.
The following day, Marie pleaded guilty to a charge of harming animals used in law enforcement. He was sentenced to time served, ordered to pay $940 in fines and restitution, and sent for deportation.
Less than 24 hours later, Marie was on a plane heading back to Egypt.
“Being caught deliberately smuggling well over one hundred pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle,” commented CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, Christine Waugh, following Marie’s deportation.
“We rely heavily on our K9 partners, and Freddie was just doing his job,” Waugh continued.
“Any malicious attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and CBP will continue to work with our investigating and prosecuting partners to deal swift and severe justice to perpetrators.”
Marie faced a potential maximum sentence of one year’s imprisonment. If Freddie had been permanently disabled or disfigured, then the maximum sentence could be as much as 10 years imprisonment.
So it doesn’t sound like he served any jail time? Just paid a fine and was put back on a plane out of here? It mentions “time served” but what does that actually mean?
I’m glad that a menace like this was deported.