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Government Staffing Cuts Have Fueled an Ant-Smuggling Boom
“It’s getting out of hand,” one seller says. “They realize the US market is a gold mine.”
“The illegal market rapidly has become much more aggressive because of the lack of enforcement,” says Armando Rosario-Lebrón, who spoke to WIRED in his personal capacity, but also previously cochaired the Federal Interagency Committee on Invasive Terrestrial Animals and Pathogens before leaving the government earlier this year. In recent months, several sellers have witnessed black market players become more ruthlessly competitive as they race to make the most money, attempting to sabotage rivals by tipping off law enforcement and even threatening them with violence. Customs and Border Protection, which works with APHIS to monitor pests that enter the United States at international points of entry, “has not seen any significant change in interceptions of ants this year” according to spokesperson Michael Mascari.
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