TSA Foils International Pork Tamale Smuggling Plot

Shutterstock
Shutterstock

If there's one thing the TSA is good at, it's annoying the piss out of everyone. If there's a second, it's definitely not passing real threat tests -- except when it comes to the sinister threat pork tamales present to our nation.

According to ABC 7 local news, a passenger traveling through LAX from Mexico was discovered holding 450 pork tamales. The passenger did report bringing food into the country on a customs from, but failed to mention that pork was involved. Thing is, it's illegal to bring pork back to the United States because of disease risks, such as Mad Cow and Swine Flu. And those are pretty serious, no matter how much tomatillo salsa you smother the pork in.

Customs officials promptly seized the tamales, of course, and issued a $1000 fine for the charge of "commercial activity with intent to distribute." And just to be clear, the product he was intended for distribution was tamales. It's the like the Cadillac of Mexican foodstuffs.

All 450 tamales were promptly destroyed, and in all likelihood, that incinerator exhaust smelled amazing.

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Kara King is a News Writer at Thrillist and would still eat the tamale. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow her at @karatillie.