COLUMBUS, NM - Border agents caught a vehicle carrying 194 pounds of contraband Mexican bologna into the U.S. at the New Mexico border, Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday.
Agents stopped a Nissan SUV the morning of Feb. 7 at the Columbus border crossing, searched the vehicle and found 22 large, red packaged rolls in the trunk, and some “hidden” in the driver’s luggage, a CBP news release said.
“Bologna is a prohibited product because it is made from pork and has the potential for introducing foreign animal diseases to the U.S. pork industry,” according to the agency.
The 49-year-old Albuquerque resident behind the wheel was fined $500, and the prohibited meat was destroyed.
“It is important that travelers understand they should declare all items they are transporting from abroad to avoid fines and penalties. A properly declared prohibited item can be abandoned at the port without consequence,” CBP Columbus Port Director Tony Hall said in the news release.
The agency release added that although anti-terrorism is its primary goal, border inspections “result in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.”
Agents have made other bologna busts in the past. In 2019, CBP agriculture specialists seized 154 pounds at the Texas border, after an officer spotted the meat tucked behind the back seat of the driver’s truck, McClatchy News previously reported.
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