Marmoset snuck on flight to New York

(New York- WABC, August 7, 2007) (WABC) -- There was a bit of monkey business at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday.

Spirit Airlines found it had an unexpected passenger on board a flight, and the stowaway was so small, it hid under a hat.

Officials say the animal flew from Peru to Fort Lauderdale before landing at LaGuardia this afternoon.

Eyewitness News reporter Joe Torres has the story.

Let's start with the big unanswered question at this point, how in the world did the monkey clear customs in Fort Lauderdale?

Eyewitness News caught up with an Animal Care and Control officer at the airport, and in his right hand was a small crate with the monkey. The officer said the monkey is actually a marmoset, native to Central America.

The monkey was on board Spirit Airlines Flight 180, and hid under the hat and ponytail of the passenger as he went through the TSA X-ray machines and got on the plane undetected.

Of course, you simply cannot bring a Central American monkey into the United States undeclared.

"Any monkeys can carry disease," Animal Care and Control Officer Michael Pastore said. "You always want to be careful. You don't want any bites, scratches, that sort of thing. You worry about viral, bacterial infections, so the safest thing to do, health-wise, is to bring the animal to a Center for Disease Control, take control of the situation, and we'll find out if everything's alright."

Pastore estimated the marmoset was still very young. He said it would grow a bit more, but not much.

We spoke with the Port Authority police, who told said the passenger was never taken into custody, nor did he receive any citation or summons. What he did get was a receipt for his monkey. And they exchanged information just in case CDC investigators or anyone else wants to get a hold of the man.

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