As a dog person, I've had this story living rent-free in my head since I heard about it late last night. In my mind, you have to be the biggest piece of human garbage on the planet to hurt an innocent little beagle. Deportation was too good a punishment for this idiot. Someone should have punted him back into Egypt and left him to suffer. But let me start from the beginning.
A 70-year-old Egyptian man named Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie flew into Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., from Cairo earlier this week. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture detector dog named Freddie, an adorable five-year-old beagle, and his handler were making routine rounds, checking out the luggage of the travelers from Egypt, when Freddie detected something in Marie's suitcase.
The human officer began questioning Marie based on Freddie's findings, and Marie, enraged, kicked the 25-pound pup so hard that he flew straight up into the air. As it turns out, the Egyptian had " 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" in his suitcase. All of these are agricultural products that are prohibited from entering the United States.
Not only was the contraband seized, but when CBP officers saw Marie kick Freddie, they jumped into action, tackling him to the ground and handcuffing him. They turned him over to the Department of Homeland Security.
"Being caught deliberately smuggling well over one hundred pounds of undeclared and prohibited agriculture products does not give one permission to violently assault a defenseless Customs and Border Protection beagle," Christine Waugh, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C., said in a statement, adding, "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."
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Marie appeared in court on Wednesday and pled guilty to harming animals used in law enforcement, which is a federal crime. He was ordered to pay Freddie's veterinary bills. He was also ordered to be removed from the United States immediately. (With any luck, he'll be banned from ever coming back.)
Thankfully, it looks like little Freddie will be okay. The veterinarian who examined him said he suffered "contusions to his right forward rib area." Here's a picture of the cute little guy.
🚨 JUST IN: DHS has just DEPORTED an Egyptian man who kicked a CBP detection dog named Freddie
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 26, 2025
The man was mad that Freddie caught him smuggling undeclared goods from Egypt, and was arrested on Tuesday.
He should be BANNED from EVER returning to the United States! pic.twitter.com/4ii2Gt8Tuh
CBP says that agriculture dogs like Freddie play an important role in "screening passengers and cargo to prevent the introduction of harmful plant pests and foreign animal disease from entering the U.S." Here's more:
The ability to discriminate and target a specific odor, such as that of an orange or even a live snail, makes dogs an invaluable tool in detecting prohibited agricultural items hidden from view. When it comes to finding prohibited fruit, vegetables, plants, and meat products from high-risk countries, the nose knows. A trained agriculture dog can scan a piece of luggage for smuggled or forgotten fruits in mere seconds. Understandably, it takes an officer much longer to open and visually inspect the same bag.
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