It’s a JFK finch pinch
Bird-brain smuggled 34 inside hair rollers
He hoped his fine-feathered friends would sing for their supper — and a $100,000 cash payout.
Francis Gurahoo, 39, of Connecticut, was charged Monday with smuggling 34 Guyana song birds through JFK customs — hiding the tiny crooners inside colorful plastic hair rollers stuffed in his luggage, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The bust occurred Sunday after Gurahoo, arriving on a flight from Georgetown, Guyana, was plucked for a random search by Customs and Border Patrol officials.
The surprise search of his luggage revealed he was hauling 34 live finches inside his carry-on bag — each of the little warblers “hidden within a plastic haircurler,” the complaint stated.
Gurahoo told agents he planned to sell the birds for $3,000 each.
According to authorities, the tiny seed-eating Pavarottis are often entered in “singing contests in Brooklyn and Queens…often conducted in public areas like parks” where two birds are judged for the best voice while spectators bet on their favorite feathered American idol.
If the finch has a prizeworthy chirp at The Voicelike competitions, it becomes valuable and can sell for in excess of $5,000, according to authorities.
But the Guyanese warblers are considered the Big Bird of the flock, thought to “sing better and are therefore more highly sought after.”
“An individual willing to smuggle finches into the United States from Guyana can earn a large profit by selling these birds in the New York area,” the complaint maintained.
At his arraignment in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon, Gurahoo’s relatives posted $25,000 bond for his release.
“We have no comment at this time,” said his lawyer, Eric Pack.
The smuggled finches are in the custody of U.S. Fish and Wildlife, a court spokesman said.