U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized 52lbs of money meat from a traveler from Central Africa.
Fox 2 Detroit reported that CBP agents stationed at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport stopped a passenger after he was carrying unknown meat.
After questioning the passenger who was coming from Gabon, a country in Central Africa, he claimed it was antelope meat.
A further investigation revealed it was not antelope but rather monkey meat.
52 pounds of monkey meat were found in someone’s luggage at Detroit Metro Airport and that was not the end of it. https://t.co/hui3HP4Bu7
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) August 22, 2025
According to reports, the man was not arrested and only handed a $300 fine.

Per Fox 2 Detroit:
52 pounds of monkey meat were found in someone’s luggage at Detroit Metro Airport and that was not the end of it.
Monkey meat was smuggled into someone’s luggage at Detroit Metro, and it was the second bust of so-called ‘bushmeat’ recently.
First, 11 pounds of rodent meat were found in the bags of a passenger coming from Togo in West Africa.
Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection uncovered 52 pounds of primate meat. The monkey meat came from Central Africa, possibly from the sun-tailed monkey.
Border Protection says primate seizures are very rare.
The rodent packer and monkey meat smuggler were slapped with a $300 fine. The not-so-funny part is that this kind of bushmeat has a serious risk of carrying communicable diseases, which can wreak havoc in humans.
52 pounds of monkey meat and 11 pounds of rodent bushmeat were smuggled into Detroit.
A measly $300. fine. Such a deterrent. pic.twitter.com/DOtjMEpOMu— Zel (@OneAndOnlyZel) August 21, 2025
Read the full article here