In a strange case of smuggling, two Buffalo men were caught smuggling by hiding four birds in a pocket and three in a fanny pack. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents reportedly asked them to pay $1,000 in fines after they seized seven birds from two men as they re-entered the United States from Canada via Buffalo's Peace Bridge.

According to AP reports, the custom officers became suspicious after the two men, identified as John Beale, 59, and Frank Salvini, 65, had gone to Canada Friday to buy 25 pounds of millet bird seed.

On their previous trips, Beale and Salvini usually went for gambling or theater excursion.

Upon searching the two men, the agents found seven undeclared live finches, each worth $50 to $200 in the U.S. market. According to the agents, four of the birds were in the liner of a coat pocket and the other three were in toilet paper rolls inside a fanny pack.

CBP spokesman Kevin Corsaro said that the case of these two Buffalo-area men was referred to federal wildlife and agricultural officials, who were looking into possible criminal charges.

"The smuggling of such birds increases the chances that a communicable bird disease, such as Exotic Newcastle or avian influenza, could enter the United States," Corsaro said.