Illegal Street Food

The War on "illegal" Street Food has been going on for more than 100 years.  It is not just tacos. There are also illegal tamales. Look at this headline from a story last year in the Los Angeles Times: "450 illegal tamales from Mexico seized at LAX and ‘incinerated’".

Yes, apparently there are illegal tamales.

A passenger at Los Angeles International Airport learned that the hard way when he tried to bring pork tamales into the U.S. from Mexico.

The passenger arrived from Mexico on Nov. 2 and was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists, who found 450 pork tamales wrapped in plastic bags in the passenger’s luggage.

The passenger apparently denied that the tamales were made with pork, which is on the list of products that travelers may not bring into the country under customs regulations.

For many families, tamales are a quintessential holiday tradition. Making a batch takes days of planning and exhaustive preparation — all for a tasty bite of corn masa, red Chile mole and pork, beef or chicken.

The passenger would have been in the clear had he tried to bring sweet tamales – or those all masa ones that always seem to be left over.

The passenger, who was not identified, was fined $1,000 because authorities believed the tamales were going to be sold and distributed.

As for the tamales, they met their demise.  All 450 of them were destroyed. The tamales were literally “incinerated,” a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said.

— Veronica Rocha, 450 illegal tamales from Mexico seized at LAX
Los Angeles Times, 18 November 2015.

Now of course Customs may be accused of being ludicrous, mean-spirited, invasive and petty. This indeed appears to be a heavy fine, and a pointless assault on the freedom of a hungry traveler, but there is nothing more dangerous than an illegal tamale.  The true crime is simply the waste of perfectly good tamales.

If you are ever accused of carrying illegal tamales, or even dare I say enchiladas, please call Winslow Law at 843-357-9301.  We are happy to handle your criminal charges or simply eat your illegal street food.

May God Bless You, Your Business, and this Country, 

Tom Winslow