New Delhi, July 5 -- My friend N turned out to be a mango smuggler.

His family owned a mango orchard in Tamil Nadu. The Imam Pasand mangoes from that orchard were the stuff of family legend. But N rarely got a taste of the mangoes in their prime. For an Indian immigrant in the US, fresh mangoes from home were forbidden fruit. Mangoes from India, like most agricultural products from abroad, were strictly banned in the US.

One year while visiting home, N was unable to resist the temptation. He buried some not-quite-ripe mangoes deep inside his hand luggage. But over the course of the long transcontinental flight from India, they slowly ripened in the overhead compartment of the aircraft. When he landed in the US, his heart was thudding. H...