Man accused of kicking dog who caught him smuggling over 100 pounds of food at Dulles

Freddie the agriculture detector dog was doing his job as a member of Customs and Border Protection’s Beagles Brigade at Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday when he sniffed out something in a traveler’s baggage.

The 5-year-old beagle and his handler began inspecting bags that had arrived from Cairo, Egypt, with 70-year-old Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie.

As the handler started questioning Marie, the traveler kicked Freddie with enough force to lift the 25-pound dog off the ground, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Steve Sapp said in a press release.

CBP officers immediately handcuffed Marie and turned him in to Homeland Security agents for prosecution, Sapp said.

Inspectors looked into Marie’s bag and found 55 pounds of beef meat, 44 pounds of rice, 15 pounds of eggplant, cucumbers and bell peppers, two pounds of corn seeds and a pound of herbs, which are all agricultural products prohibited from entering the U.S., Sapp said.

Freddie suffered contusions to his right forward rib area, according to a veterinarian.

Marie pleaded guilty to harming animals used in law enforcement in a U.S. District Court in Virginia on Wednesday, Sapp said. He was ordered to pay the veterinarian’s fee and told to report to CBP for deportation. He flew out of the U.S. to Egypt on Thursday afternoon, according to officials.

“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,” Christine Waugh, a CBP director, said.