SMUGGLED CITRUS CUTTINGS INTERCEPTED
SAN FRANCISCO - 11/02/05 - The very first felony conviction and imprisonment under the Plant Protection Act of 2000 occurred recently in San Francisco.
The conviction was a result of a year-long investigation by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture into a man accused of smuggling 450 citrus cuttings into the US.
Nagatoshi Morimoto pleaded guilty to one felony count of smuggling citrus cuttings from Japan into the US.
Morimoto was apprehended in April of last year when CBP Officers intercepted three express mail shipments from Japan that were labeled as "candy and chocolates," but which contained the citrus cuttings.
One of the shipments tested positive for citrus canker - a plant disease caused by a bacterial pathogen that affects a variety of citrus species and can render fruit unmarketable, and cause infected fruit to drop from trees before reaching maturity
The US Department of Agriculture (DOA) has stated that citrus canker may be one of the most devastating agriculture pests and diseases that threaten citrus crops.
Previous outbreaks of the disease in Florida and other Gulf Coast states were resolved by eradication programs that required the removal of infected trees.
To date, Florida alone has spent $20 million on eradication and compensation for lost trees.
According to the University of California Davis Agricultural Issues Center, the potential economic impact from a citrus canker outbreak in California has been estimated to be between $173 to $890 million.
Morimoto was sentenced to one month in prison, a $5,000 fine, and community service that requires him to distribute brochures both in Japan and the US that warn farmers about the virus and the consequences of illegally shipping citrus cuttings to the US.
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