A San Jose business owner was sentenced last week to three months in jail for illegally importing tropical fruit from Vietnam that was infested with fruit flies.
Hanh Hong Huynh, 43, was convicted of conspiracy to import and sell fruit in violation of federal and state agricultural laws. Her co-defendant, Thanh Tuyen Huynh, 38, had already pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy and was sentenced to community service.
This is the first felony prosecution by the District Attorney’s Office on charges of illegally importing fruit in violation of the Food and Agriculture Code.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement: “Santa Clara County’s still-thriving agriculture must be protected. This office advocates for our orchards, farms and the bountiful food they produce.”
Produce imported from outside of the United States must first be inspected by agricultural officials because it may be infested with invasive foreign pests like fruit flies.
In 2022, the defendants had the fruit shipped from Vietnam and misidentified it as dried fish, coffee, or tea to avoid inspection.
Local officials told Thanh Tuyen Huynh to stop selling illegal fruit, such as langsat, which is a tropical fruit with the shape of a large grape. She instead continued to advertise on social media and sell the fruit, some of which was seized, tested and found to be heavily infested with the larvae of a destructive fruit fly endemic to Southeast Asia.
The investigation was conducted by Investigator Paul Messier of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations and investigators from Santa Clara County’s Division of Agriculture. The investigation also received assistance from the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Anyone with information about the unlawful importation or sale of produce in California may contact the California Department of Food and Agriculture Department’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement: “Santa Clara County’s still-thriving agriculture must be protected. This office advocates for our orchards, farms and the bountiful food they produce.”
Of course he’s evasive and fluffy, and overly euphemistic, too, never mind 10-20 years from now, never mind what was imported. Don’t say anything about enforcing the law, or “illegal” anything like “illegal fruit,” or anything negative with “import.”
Sighing and rolling eyes at the local antics and antics-mongers, again
Laws are established to protect the general public.
The fact that people abuse laws and try getting away with “loopholes” all the time doesn’t entitle you to break the laws! Wake up and be civil!
It was fruit flies that caused the entire south bay area to be drenched with malathion back in the early 80s. We don’t need a repeat of that, so I hope the community that trades in these fruit is now more aware of the law.