Man kicks customs dog at Washington Dulles International Airport, say authorities
An Egyptian man has admitted federal charges after kicking a customs dog at a US airport, authorities say.
Hamad Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, 70, pleaded guilty to "harming animals used in law enforcement" during an appearance in the US District Court of eastern Virginia on Wednesday.
Five-year-old male beagle Freddie allegedly detected more than 100lbs (45kg) of undeclared agricultural products in Marie's luggage after he arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.
When Freddie's handler started questioning the passenger, he kicked the 25lb (11kg) animal so hard that it was lifted off the ground, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
A veterinarian determined that Freddie suffered contusions to his right rib area as a result of being kicked.
Marie was placed in handcuffs by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who found 55lbs (24.9kg) of beef meat, 44lbs (20kg) of rice, 15lbs (6.8kg) of eggplant, cucumbers and bellpeppers, 2lbs (0.9kg) of corn seeds, and 1lb (0.5kg) of herbs in his luggage, according to authorities.
All agricultural products were seized as they are prohibited to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal diseases from entering the country.
"Being caught deliberately smuggling well over 100lbs of undeclared and prohibited agricultural products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenceless Customs and Border Protection beagle," said Christine Waugh, CBP's director for the area port of Washington DC.
"We rely heavily on our K9 partners and Freddie was just doing his job.
"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 was credited with time served after being taken into custody on Tuesday and was ordered to pay the veterinarian's fee of $840 (£612) for Freddie's treatment, a court filing shows.
He was also told to immediately report to CBP for removal from the US, and he left the country on a flight to Egypt at 12.30pm local time on Thursday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Pistons star Malik Beasley under investigation for gambling on NBA games as off-court drama spirals out of control
The US District Attorney's office has launched a investigation into NBA star Malik Beasley amid allegations of gambling related to NBA games and prop bets. The stunning news, first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania on Sunday lunchtime, is just the latest off-field drama surrounding the Detroit Pistons star, who recently endured a very public split from his wife after five turbulent years of marriage. Beasley was in serious discussions with the Pistons over a new three-year, $42million contract as he headed into free agency, but it is now being reported that talks have been immediately paused while the investigation plays out. More to follow.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Dark side of Egypt where tourists are tortured & killed and Brits are banged up & ‘forced to pay bribes by corrupt cops'
WHEN it comes to a perfect holiday destination for Brits, Egypt has it all - five-star resorts, scorching temperatures and stunning beaches. But beyond the boundaries of its luxury all-inclusive havens is a dark underbelly that the country's tourist board would rather holidaymakers didn't see. 18 18 18 18 The Pharoah nation sucks in a staggering 18million tourists each year, and the industry props up around 10 percent of the whole economy, and it's clear to see why. Flocking in their droves, tourists arrive to visit ancient tombs and lounge on the two magnificent coastlines of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. But beyond the plush resorts of the popular Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada - Egypt harbours dirty secrets. Tourists have disappeared in mysterious circumstances - only to turn up mutilated or dead. A brutal police force deals in bribes and locks people up on bogus charges, including Brit holidaymakers. The ancient-world sites are riddled with canny con artists who know how to wangle money out of tourists. And animals are tortured and worked to death - with some discarded in makeshift graveyards around the back of the pyramids. Egypt's picture-postcard image is being tested, with a former British ambassador to the country recently branding it a "police state". John Casson said the authorities are "violent and vindictive" and urged the government to "deploy the full range of tools it has to protect British citizens". "This includes official travel advice that should caution against travel to Egypt," he said. "It is a police state in Egypt. It is violent and vindictive and it is abusing a British citizen." Egypt's dangerous underbelly was dragged into the spotlight last month when a Colombian tourist suffered a grisly fate. Ivonne Latorre, 24, was found dying in a coma at the side of a road after going missing from the Zamna electronic music festival in Cairo. She has sustained horrific injuries after crossing paths with men posing as producers - and tragically died five days later in hospital. Nobody knows who mutilated Ivonne, but an investigation has been launched into the beauty queen's mysterious death. Holidaymakers have also accused the country's police officers of corruption, arresting tourists on bogus charges and offering them a way out with bribes. Tony Camoccio, a 56-year-old Londoner, was arrested and locked up in a terrifying jail for simply patting a security guard on the back. The window business owner was told he was going to be charged with sexual assault and locked up for seven years. He told The Sun: "I was locked in a cage outside for two nights with 80 other people. I was just in a T-shirt and shorts and it was one degrees at night. 18 18 18 18 "Then they told me to sign a document and said I would be released." But the document Tony signed was not a release paper - he says he'd been tricked into signing a confession written in Arabic. Tony said: "It was all about money. My lawyer was told I could get out if we 'made the policeman happy' - clearly meaning a bribe." But the most shocking thing Tony witnessed was inside the brutal Police Station 1 prison. He said: "You couldn't sleep at night because the guards were beating women and children, making them scream. It was horrible. "Egypt is a dangerous place. Most tourists just stay in their hotels because they know that, but it means they don't see the truth. "I used to love going on holiday there, but I'll never step foot in that country again." Tony was lucky to escape the police's clutches when he was released after just over a week - but not everyone has been so fortunate. An Italian Cambridge University graduate, Giulio Regeni, 28, was tortured to death after being scooped up in 2016 - and Italy blames the Egyptian authorities. His mutilated body was found in a ditch near Cairo nine days after disappearing while on a research trip - and an autopsy revealed he had been subjected to extreme torture. Rome has officially charged four members of Egypt's National Security Agency with his murder and torture, and prosecutors still hope for a trial. 'Tourist exploitation' While only a fraction of tourists have serious run-ins with the police, there are other murky realities about Egypt that almost all will experience. One is the near-constant stream of scams that plague tourists as they navigate the cities and attractions. A popular travel blogger who visited Egypt recently vowed never to return - and even re-booked flights to get out two days early. Antonina, behind the Embrace Someplace blog, said: "The constant 'in your face' deceit was one of the worst parts about visiting Egypt. 18 18 "These daily demands for as much money as possible started to get to us because it happened no less than 10 times a day. "Eventually we just stopped leaving the hotel. To put it bluntly, I felt like a walking ATM while visiting Egypt. "It seemed to me that, as a tourist, the objective was to get as much money from me as possible. The level of tourist exploitation is absolutely next level." The Pyramids of Giza - visited by tens of thousands every day - are a hotspot for the scams, particularly as the industry picks up again post-Covid. The problem is so bad it has driven a surge in social media influencers creating "avoid the scams" videos. Men with whistles are documented posing as officials, trying to get tourists to follow them to a spot only to charge an extortionate price for the "service". Others falsely tell visitors they are walking the wrong way - ultimately hoping to charge for pictures taken with the pyramids, according to Sam Mayfair's viral TikTok report. 18 18 18 But the ongoing case that pushed John Casson to call for a change to UK travel advice is that of a British-Egyptian man who has been locked up there for years, with the UN ruling that he is being held illegally. Alaa Abd el-Fattah was banged up five years ago - and has not been released despite his sentence expiring in September. His mum, Laila Soueif, in London, is on death's door after almost 300 days of hunger strike - and she has vowed not to eat until her son is free. James Lynch, working for Alaa's campaign, told The Sun that David Lammy's progress with the Egyptian authorities "risks being too slow for Laila and Alaa, British citizens whose health and lives are at serious risk as a result of their prolonged hunger strikes". Alaa's unfair detention echoes the story of Laura Plummer, a shop worker from Hull, who was locked up over prescription painkillers found in her luggage. The Brit ultimately spent 14 months in horrific conditions. Laura was convicted at trial, but she says a guilty verdict was recorded due to a mistake in translation. She was freed in 2019 following a Sun campaign and said: "The prison was horrendous. I was in a cell with 200 people and only 84 beds." Laura was moved from Cairo to Hurghada Prison, where she said she "witnessed the most horrendous things", including "two girls getting tortured with sticks". 18 18 She said: 'What should have been a two-week holiday in the sun turned into a 15-month trip to hell." Left to die Animal abuse is also a problem in the country, an issue brought to light by a harrowing PETA Asia investigation. The animal rights group uncovered the routine abuse of the creatures forced to work at the pyramids and other attractions. Donkeys, horses and camels in particular are worked to death ferrying tourists around in the scorching heat, and often treated cruelly by their handlers. A recent report said that "handlers viciously beat animals who are simply too exhausted to go on". It said: "Screaming camels are viciously beaten with sticks by men and children at the Birqash Camel Market before being sold to the tourism industry. "Sick, injured, or starving horses and camels are often abandoned by carriage operators who treat them like disposable tools." Tour companies have started moving away from offering camel rides after widespread outrage at the findings of successive investigations, but the local operators are pushing back. As if all that isn't enough for tourists to deal with, a surge of fatal shark attacks have terrorised the coast in recent years. A 48-year-old Italian man was mauled to death in December, and a 24-year-old Russian man was killed in June of 2023. There have been at least two more confirmed deaths from shark attacks in the past ten years - and a host of injuries. It's Red Sea coast makes it far more dangerous to swim around than any of the other countries on the Med, as this map shows. Most visits to Egypt will pass without hitch but, after four years of diplomatic experience in the country, John Casson said the nation must do more to protect Brits, who bring in millions each year. He said: "Egypt cannot have it both ways. It pretends to be a friend and depends on flows of British tourists to keep its economy afloat. "It needs to discover that that kind of partnership is not compatible with abusing our citizens and blocking our embassy from carrying out the most fundamental consular actions on their behalf." 18 18 18
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Deranged Christian camp counselor 'threatened Columbine 2.0' against innocent kids for 'p***ing him off'
A sadistic counselor allegedly threatened the mass murder of children if they were to 'p**s him off' during a summer camp. Mario Bernal, 23, is accused of telling kids he would 'create the next Columbine shooting' at Christian Camp Cho-Yeh in Livingston, Texas. He allegedly repeated his threats when horrified camp officials planned to fire him, vowing he would 'clock himself out' and 'not go down by himself'. Bernal again threatened to turn the camp into a repeat of the infamous massacre if the camp 'came at him legally', an arrest affidavit alleged. He was already facing dismissal for locking a group of children in a sweltering hot room as 'discipline' and refusing to let the leave. Two teenage gunmen murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999, and wounded 20 others. Columbine is the most notorious school shooting in US history and national trauma that led to increased campus security and renewed gun control efforts. Bernal, from Vernal, Utah, was arrested by Livingston Police and handed over to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which was investigating him. Police pulled him over near the camp entrance after witnesses told them he was planning to flee to Houston with his girlfriend, who also worked for Camp Cho-Yeh. He was charged with making terroristic threats impeding public service and held at the Polk County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Bernal was already facing sex crime charges for allegedly forcibly kissing and touching a women in a car despite repeatedly being told to stop. The case was filed on May 8 after the incident in March.
