Egg prices have gotten so high that people are literally smuggling them in from Mexico. People are traveling across the border, buying them at cheaper prices, and then trying to hide them on the way back into the United States. Then amount of people busted with illicit eggs and poultry jumped 108% between Oct 1st and December 31st of 2022. 108% in three months!
Here’s a warning in case you’re thinking of starting a Pollo Cartel. You can be fined $10,000 for smuggling uncooked eggs. Besides that, you don’t know what’s in those eggs? Laws are a lot more lax in Mexico. They could have come from hens full of bird flu. Then you spread it here, killing more chickens, and making egg prices go even higher. All because you have an out of control quiche addiction.
By the way, there are things you can substitute for eggs when baking: apple sauce, tofu, chia seeds and more. Here’s a link to the Delish web page that lists and talks about them.
But, yeah. People are buying dozens and dozens of eggs in Mexico and bringing them back to sell for profit. I can see this turning ugly. Egg gangs will start forming. There’ll be turf wars. There will be drive by house eggings.
The San Diego Field Office has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry. As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the U.S. Failure to declare agriculture items can result in penalties of up to $10,000. pic.twitter.com/ukMUvyKDmL
— Director of Field Operations Jennifer De La O (@DFOSanDiegoCA) January 18, 2023