Mr. B. was a chicken breeder, and a major part of his business was with a chicken grower (breeder) in Puerto Rico. I was the cargo agent who handled the arrangements. When an order of chicks destined for the dinner tables of the Commonwealth hatched, time was of the essence. The chicks had to be shipped because, as Mr. B. explained, they could not eat anything for the first 48 hours after hatching, but after that time they had to receive prompt nourishment if they were to survive.
On one memorable occasion, he called our Pan American office, which handled his Puerto Rican business, to make a reservation for a shipment going to Mexico City. This meant a longer trip, but with the same 48-hour limit. A few weeks later, I spoke with Mr. B. and asked how the Mexican shipment had worked out. He replied that, unfortunately, the chicks had to be destroyed when they reached customs in Mexico. When I inquired as to the reason he responded, “.They had diarrhea.” This prompted what seemed to be an obvious question: how could they have diarrhea if they had never eaten? This gave Mr. B. pause. It did seem odd.
Subsequently, he reported to me that, upon investigation, he had learned that a retired U.S. businessman had moved to Mexico and set up a scam operation in collusion with a corrupt customs official at the Mexico City airport. He would order baby chicks from breeders all over the country – only one order per breeder, I assume. When the chicks arrived, in good condition, the breeder would be notified that the chicks had to be destroyed due to diarrhea. This left the retired businessman free to sell the chicks at a 100% profit. It appears I was the first person to notice the disparity between the lack of nourishment and distress of the alimentary system.
Mr. B. reported the fraud to the chicken growers’ association, and it was written up in their journal as a warning to other breeders. Mr. B. was mentioned as the person who had caught on to this nefarious plot and, I imagine, became a minor celebrity among the baby chick growers of America.
