US Border: Egg Smuggling Surges as Easter Nears

Feds now report egg seizures along with drug takedowns along the Southern Border

Mexican Eggs confiscated from travellers entering El Paso from Juarez. (US Customs & Border Protection photo)

The soaring price of eggs in the US has resulted in skyrocketing numbers of Mexican eggs confiscated at US Border Crossings - to the point that some US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Offices are now showing off their avian seizures alongside the hard drugs their officers have stopped from entering the country (so far they have not reported the "street value" of the Mexican eggs kept out of the US marketplace).

El Paso Customs & Border Protection shows off the eggs alongside the drugs they confiscated in recent weeks. US Customs & Border Protection photos via x.com)

Travelers are prohibited from bringing fresh eggs, raw chicken, or live birds into the United States from Mexico to prevent the spread of diseases (like the bird flu currently in the US, which - in turn, has driven up domestic egg prices as producers have been forced to cull their flocks).

Since January, CBP officers in El Paso have encountered more than 90 people attempting to import raw eggs from Mexico - resulting in more than $4,000 in fines being levied.

Eggs confiscated from people entering the country from Mexico are piling up at San Diego Sector Border Crossings. (US Customs & Border Protection photo)

But it is the San Diego Sector that is seeing an "eggsplosion" in these cases: CBP Officers are reporting a 158% increase in egg interceptions there versus last year. Federal officers there warn this is no "yolking" matter - as individuals caught trying to bring prohibited Mexican eggs into the US risk shelling out up to a $1,000 fine.

The San Diego Field Office has seen a 158% increase in interceptions of Mexican eggs like these since fiscal year 2024. US Customs & Border Protection Photo

As Mexican egg confiscations at the US Southern Border rise along with the price of eggs in the US marketplace, CBP Agriculture Inspectors expect to become even busier as Easter approaches - because of a holiday border tradition called "cascarones" (brightly colored confetti-filled eggs, which children delight in breaking over the heads of unsuspecting adults, pets, and playmates).

Cascarone shells brought into the US from Mexico must be clean, dry, and free of any egg residue. Photo courtesy Folgueras Customs Brokers

Although each person entering the US from Mexico is allowed to bring a dozen cascarones into the country, the shells must be clean, dry, and free of any egg residue (They are allowed to be decorated, etched, or painted, though - and confetti filling is OK).

That's a lot of decorated eggs for CBP to inspect - along with keeping an eye out for raw eggs - and, yes - in case you were wondering - CBP Inspectors routinely confiscate cascarones that do not meet US standards at the border each year.

Plastic bags containing undeclared cascarones confiscated by CBP Inspectors from travelers crossing into Laredo, Texas, from Mexico. US Customs & Border Protection Photo

Should the penalties for bringing raw eggs into the US from Mexico be increased to discourage more people from doing this?

Share your opinion in the comments on this article!

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

Jack Beavers - US Border News