San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
The newest contraband at Mexican border? Uncooked eggs
From Texas to California, border agents are increasingly seizing a surprising type of contraband from Mexico: eggs.
Customs and Border Protection agents had more than 2,000 encounters with people trying to bring eggs into the U.S. from Mexico between Nov. 1 and Jan. 17, an agency spokesperson said. In the same 11-week period a year earlier, there were about 460 such encounters.
The rise comes as the price of eggs in the U.S. has surged, driven in part by an outbreak of bird flu that was detected last February.
Roger Maier, the Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, said in an email last week that the agency had noted an increase in people attempting to bring eggs to the U.S. from Mexico, where “they are significantly less expensive.”
The 2,002 encounters involving eggs that occurred between Nov. 1 and Jan. 17 were reported by field offices in Laredo, El Paso, San Diego and Tucson, Ariz. They do not represent the total number of eggs seized.
The biggest increase was in San Diego, where the encounters jumped to 1,077 from 230, an increase of 368 percent.
Maier did not say how many eggs were seized in these encounters. In an email, he said “this is not necessarily smuggling but rather increased encounters of people traveling with eggs.”
Customs and Border Protection officials in El Paso and San Diego have issued warnings on Twitter to remind people that they were not allowed to bring uncooked eggs from
Mexico into the U.S.
The average price for a dozen large Grade A eggs rose to $4.25 from $1.92 between January and December 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At grocery stores in Mexico, the wholesale price for a kilogram of eggs, which is more than a
dozen jumbo eggs, was between 30 and 51 pesos, or between about $1.59 and $2.71, in mid-January, according to figures collected by the Mexican government.
Bird flu, which has been cited as a factor behind the sharp rise in egg prices, is a highly contagious virus that is often fatal to chickens. The outbreak has affected more than 58 million birds in hundreds of commercial and backyard flocks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By the end of 2022, more than 43 million egglaying hens had died from the disease or had been culled to prevent the virus from spreading, according to the department.
Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that the threat of bird flu underscored the importance of laws that bar people from bringing agricultural items across the border.
These laws are in place because agricultural items, such as plants and animals, can harbor pests and spread diseases that harm the environment, crops and livestock.
People entering the U.S. are required to declare to officials if they have items including meat, fruit, vegetables, animals and seeds in their luggage or vehicle. If border officers find these types of items, and they have not been declared, travelers can face civil penalties of up to $1,000. The fines are much higher if the items are found to be intended for commercial use.
Maier urged travelers to declare food and agricultural items, even those they believe are allowed, to avoid potential penalties.
Customs and Border Protection agricultural specialists collect and destroy the eggs, he said.
Maier said in a “very small number of cases” recently, eggs were not declared and discovered during an inspection. The people implicated in those cases were issued a $300 civil penalty, he said. Fines can be higher for repeat offenders or for those who bring in eggs to sell commercially, he said.