&gt; So knowing that people do come here and go elsewhere for cacti we can assume other types of plants are susceptible as well<p>Yes, absolutely.  Animals make the news more (rhinos, lions etc), but the plant groups of cacti, orchids and bromeliads are very desirable to certain collectors.<p>A $500 fine — and presumably a ban on returning to the USA — doesn&#x27;t seem like much deterrent. That&#x27;s not covered a fraction of the cost of the investigation, and is very small compared to the black-market value of the plants.