ATLANTA (AP) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the world's busiest airport say they've foiled a destructive beetle from entering the country, where it could have done massive damage to crops.

Customs officers at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport said Tuesday they recently intercepted the khapra beetle in the luggage of two passengers arriving from India.

Authorities say experts at a federal lab confirmed it was the khapra beetle, one of the world's most destructive pests which attacks stored seed and grain products.

Customs officials said that a khapra beetle outbreak in the U.S. could cost millions of dollars in cleanup efforts. They said the damage could lead to tremendous economic losses to seed and grain producers because other nations would likely impose quarantine restrictions on contaminated exports of U.S. grain.