Man smuggling exotic protected birds in cardboard box is detained in California, feds say

Julia Marnin, The Charlotte Observer on Jun 11, 2025

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A California man arrived to the U.S. from Mexico with a commercial amount of alcohol, candy, snacks and soda in his car — as well as seven exotic, protected birds inside a cardboard SKYY vodka box, according to court documents.

Juandaniel Medina, 24, of Lindsay, planned on breeding or reselling the live Amazon parrots he smuggled into California after traveling through the San Ysidro Port of Entry, a southern border crossing linking Tijuana and San Diego, federal prosecutors said.

He was detained after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found the birds, six of which are Red-Lored Amazon parrots, inside the box on the floor of Medina’s car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

Now, Medina is charged with illegally trafficking the parrots, which are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a June 10 news release.

Attorney information for Medina, who appeared in court on June 10, wasn’t immediately available the morning of June 11.

Medina is the third person “charged with illegal trafficking of protected exotic birds through Ports of Entry in the Southern District of California” in the last few weeks, prosecutors said.

He was found smuggling the parrots on May 26, according to charging documents. A CBP officer discovered the birds after spotting multiple holes poked into the SKYY Vodka box in which Medina hid them, charging documents say.

Medina told officials that he bought the parrots for $700 in cash, according to prosecutors.

“Fortunately, all seven of the parrots are alive and thriving at a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” prosecutors said.

Medina’s arrest is a part of a larger, “troubling pattern” of wildlife being trafficked into the U.S. through Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Amazon parrots inhabit Mexico, the West Indies and South America, prosecutors said.

About thirty different species of Amazon parrots are all protected by Appendix I or Appendix II of CITES, according to prosecutors.

Bringing birds into the U.S. illegally prevents officials from examining and quarantining them, creating potential public health risks, as birds smuggled into the country can carry Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement that “Bird smuggling is not a victimless crime.”

“These animals suffer, and the consequences to public health and the environment can be catastrophic,” Gordon added.

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