Birdpants

A man was arrested for smuggling songbirds into the U.S. in his pants. The song birds go for 10 to 30 dollars in vietnam but sell for hundreds of dollars in the U.S. "He had fashioned these special cloth devices to hold the birds." said U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek.

Sony Dong, 46, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March after an inspector spotted bird feathers and droppings on his socks and tail feathers peeking out from under his pants, prosecutors said.

Authorities connected Dong to Duc Le who was also arrested after nearly 50 birds where found in an outdoor aivary. Duc Le said that "They're rare and there are collectors who are willing to pay top dollar for these things." Authorties say that this is not the first time that Dong has done this he did it early this year in February and that Dong had been flagged by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspectors once before for leaving a suitcase of 18 birds in the airport. The birds might be donated to zoos if they are healthy. Since the birds came from southeast Asian officials are worried that it might have avian flu.

Okay so has our economy gotten so bad that we have to steal birds from other countries and sell them here to make money? i mean this guy is willing to sit a whole flight with birds tied to his legs and apparently they might possibly have some kind of crazy asian disease. i would understand a little better if he wanted them as pets or if he just did it once, but he has done this multiple times. The hassle does not seem to be worth the money that he makes from the birds. You think that if he was going to smuggle something it would at least be something thats dead and quiet not freaking song birds.