The link (above) to the Boston Globe seems to tell a different story:
When his baggage arrived in Boston, the instruments were gone. He was instead given a number to call. "They told me they were destroyed" This seems to suggest that the instruments were not destroyed in his presence, & he only discovered the fact later.

Even the original link gives the following:
'I told them I had these instruments for many years and flew with them in and out,' he said. 'There were 11 instruments in all. They told me they were agricultural products and they had to be destroyed. There was nothing I could do. The ney flute can be made with bamboo. Is that agricultural?'
This looks to me like a very evasive comment, and would make me suspicious if I was working for the border force. He says "the ney flute can be made with bamboo". He appears to be carefully not stating that they are made of bamboo.

I think I'll wait for more information before charging in accusing the people involved of being wrong in their actions, or of having a racial motivation.