The spike in egg prices in the United States has prompted some who regularly cross the US southern border to buy eggs at lower prices in Mexico and try to smuggle them north.
"In the past three months, we have noticed an increase of about 108 percent in the seizure of fresh chicken products, especially fresh eggs. The majority of confiscated eggs come to El Paso from Juárez," Luis Carlos Masias from the Customs and Border Protection Service told Voice of America. America.
How it transmits N1, in Texas, Arizona and California, Border Patrol agents have seized a large amount of smuggled eggs in recent months.
Egg prices soared when the bird flu epidemic decimated poultry in the US, at a time of year when Americans eat more protein-rich foods.
However, buying cheaper eggs in Mexico and smuggling them across the border can be expensive – those who do so face hefty fines.
"If you bring them into the country and don't report them, number one: the eggs will be confiscated, AND number two: for the first offense you get a fine of $300. For the second offense you can get a fine of $1.000," warns Masias.
The price of eggs in the US has risen from slightly less than two dollars for a carton of 12 pieces, to as much as five dollars per carton. In Mexico, the price of eggs is approximately 50 percent lower than the price Americans pay.
Representatives of the Customs and Border Service point out that illegal deliveries of eggs for sale in the USA could result in fines of $10.000.
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