A retired Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement officer warned a House panel on Wednesday that his former agency is falling behind in the fight against illegal international wildlife trafficking.
As Exhibit A, former FWS special agent Ed Newcomer cited what’s happening at one major port in the Pacific Northwest.
“I recently learned through my contacts that there is one wildlife inspector based at the Port of Seattle,” Newcomer reported, adding that “one wildlife inspector cannot handle mail, sea cargo, air cargo and passengers. It’s not possible.”
In 2022, 456,289 metric tons of cargo passed through the Port of Seattle’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and in 2024 more than 23 million metric tons of containerized cargo passed through the seaports in Seattle and Tacoma.
