U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists intercepted the shed skin of a beetle described as one of the world’s most destructive grain pests at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in April 2025.

Officials said a traveler returning from Lebanon on April 18 underwent a secondary inspection for an agricultural examination. That’s when specialists discovered a small bag of undeclared seeds intended for planting in the traveler’s luggage. CBP seized the seeds, issued the traveler a warning for failing to declare agricultural items, and released them.

During a more thorough investigation, specialists discovered a cast skin in the bag and identified the specimen as a khapra beetle.

“Khapra beetle is one of the many significant threats we face at our borders,” said Area Port Director Fadia Pastilong. “This particularly destructive insect is known to be extremely difficult to detect, which is why even intercepting a cast skin is a big deal.”

Because of its invasive nature, the khapra beetle is one of several insects the USDA considers quarantine-significant, whether it’s dead or alive. Infestations can cause stored products to become inedible when the beetle enters warehouses or granaries and can rapidly devastate the nation’s agricultural economy.

This marks a continuation in potentially hazardous materials being introduced into the U.S. Last year, several Chinese nationals bound for a University of Michigan research lab faced charges and deportation after smuggling a dangerous fungus into the U.S. That fungus could potentially devastate grain crops across the nation.

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