Customs officials seize 450 tamales found in luggage

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman told the Los Angeles Times they’d been ‘incinerated’. So not only did the passenger lose the money spent to make all those tamales (which had to have been an expensive endeavor), the tamale-less traveler also had to spend an extra thousand bucks on the incident – and deal with a few disappointed friends and family.

Stuffed inside the 450 leaf-wrapped treats were not drugs, weapons or other contraband – only pork meat, which customs agents say could potentially introduce foreign animal diseases into the U.S.

A passenger traveling from Mexico to Los Angeles was attempting to transport the traditional Mexican dishes, but was stopped by Customs and Border Protection after declaring the food on his customs form and verbally denying the presence of any pork products.

“Although tamales are a popular holiday tradition, foreign meat products can carry serious animal diseases”, said Anne Maricich, CBP acting director of field operations in Los Angeles.

“The pork meat tamales were seized and destroyed under CBP supervision”, CBP said. However, when asked if the food declared contained any pork meat products, the man said no.

The passenger, who was not identified by authorities, was fined $1,000 and for “commercial activity with the intent to distribute”, according to the CBP.