A fruit importer with offices in Hawthorne has been sued in connection with importing unmarked packages of mangos and yams from India that had not been treated to prevent the spread of the destructive Oriental fruit fly, state officials said today.

“Bombino Express Worldwide is charged with smuggling untreated and unlabeled fruit that can carry invasive insects like the Oriental Fruit Fly into the United States,” Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement. “When foreign shipping companies disobey California’s quarantine laws they put the state’s growers at risk.

He said county, state and federal inspectors should be commended for catching the illegal shipment and isolating its contents. A parcel inspection dog named C.C., working for the San Bernardino County Agricultural Commissioner’s office, sniffed out the mislabeled box of mangos. There are plans to assign dogs in San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno counties.

A single fruit fly lives approximately 90 days and can travel up to 30 miles in search of food and sites to lay eggs, officials said. The threat of agricultural destruction from invasive species can be costly for farmers. Here is the full release.