Sam Amico
Well, this isn’t exactly egg-cellent news.
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It appears that smuggling eggs has become a thing at the U.S.-Mexico border, with the prices of eggs having soared in recent months. Same goes for poultry, which gives birth to the eggs (when alive).
This is all true, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which says that arrests involving egg and poultry products were up 108 percent from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 of last year. We are presuming that’s 108 percent up from, oh, about zero the previous year.
Either way, smuggling eggs is something that’s taken seriously, and doing so can leave you with some legal egg on your face.
“My advice is, don’t bring them over,” CBP Supervisory Agriculture Specialist Charles Payne said, via Fox News. “If you fail to declare them or try to smuggle them, you face civil penalties.”
So what has led to the increase in smuggling? Apparently, eggs are much cheaper in Mexico.
The same cannot be said in the U.S. As Fox relayed, prices have gone up to an average of $3.59 per carton — as opposed to just $1.72 at the same time last year.
On the bright side, the smuggling detainments and fines seem to be limited only to uncooked eggs. Scramble them first, and there may be no issue.
Or maybe that’s not true, either. After all, Texas CBP agents recently seized 484 pounds of bologna inside a pickup truck and another 285 pounds of cheese in separate stops.
Throw in some eggs and that would make one hearty omelet. But it could also cost you about a grand in fines if you don’t make everyone aware that you’re crossing the border with it first.
