She grew up eating the best-known brand in Ciudad Juarez. While picking up steaks and short ribs for her family, she lamented she can’t buy Mexican bologna, too. Miriam Ortiz, a shopper at La Mejor Texas Meat shop in West El Paso understands the popularity of the lunchmeat from Mexico. Customs and Border Protection officers at international bridges are also finding a popular contraband comfort food stashed in vehicles - Mexican bologna. She was at the store shopping for dinner with her baby boy and mother.“I’ll have to come back and do the carne al pastor and we’re going to do some ribeyes for the grill as well,” she said.Smuggling attempts at the U.S.-Mexico border during the COVID-19 pandemic include more than drugs. She said she missed shopping at an “authentic” Mexican meat market. Lauren Gore recently moved back to El Paso from Dallas. I really don’t know what’s in there but it’s really good,” she said.Įven so, customers say there are plenty of other choices for those who crave the flavor of Mexico. bologna is lighter in color than the Mexican meat to she notes.“Over there it’s kind of a reddish color. I don’t know if it has the same ingredients,” said Ortiz who grew up eating the Chimex brand in Mexico as a child. I don’t know if it’s because it’s Americanized. is made with poultry not pork from Mexico. He carries Chimex bologna distributed by the FUD brand. He points out along with steaks and ribs, he sells some great bologna. KTEP News La Mejor Texas Meat Shop in El Paso offers customers a taste of Mexico in the type of cuts of beef, house marinades and Ranchera music. He said customers come for quality, freshness and prices.” “I know that it takes forever to burn.” CBP officers destroy the bologna by incinerating it at the ports of entry. And it does smell like a big hot dog roast.īack at the La Mejor Texas Meat Shop, the manager Raul Burrell takes pride in his store. So has Vasquez tasted the bologna? “No, she said chucking. The penalty for not declaring a commercial amount is a $1000 fine. CBP cannot stop them from returning home to the U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents cross back and forth. Though the border is closed to essential travel, U.S. One man had 35 rolls hidden under blankets in the backseat of his SUV along with nine rolls of another illegal lunchmeat. Since mid-May CBP officers at border crossings in El Paso have seized at least 1000 pounds of bologna. “People who normally wouldn’t do it are engaging in this type of smuggling activity ,” she explained. Some of those trying to sneak the sausages across the border these days are people who’ve lost their jobs during the pandemic, says Vasquez. Mexican bologna has turned up across Texas and the rest of the country. Customs and Border Protection officers seized a large load of illegal bologna from Mexico at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso. “Say anywhere from $30-40.00 to say further north up to $80 for one single roll,” according to Vasquez.ĬBP U.S. The price of a roll at least doubles once it crosses the border. While some are for personal consumption, larger quantities carefully concealed in cars and trucks are smuggled for profit. “They call them chubs those round rolls,” she said. The contraband in the form of red-colored rolls turn up time again. In the more than 20 years Vasquez has inspected food products at border crossings, Mexican bologna has persisted as one of the most popular prohibited food items. They smuggle it across because they’re able to sell it per se under the table,” said CBP Supervisory agriculture specialist in El PasoKatherine Vasquez. “It’s loved and they crave it for the most part. But that doesn’t stop people from trying to bring the meat into the country.
The bologna is not allowed across the border because it’s made with pork and could introduce a foreign animal disease into the U.S. “I love Chimex and it’s very frustrating because we can’t cross it either,” she said. She laments she can’t buy Mexican bologna at any in El Paso or any other store in the U.S. She was at the meat market buying dinner for her family including steaks and some short ribs. Miriam Ortiz, a loyal shopper at La Mejor Texas Meat shop understands the popularity of the lunchmeat. Smuggling during the pandemic also includes a comfort food that is contraband Mexican bologna. customs and Border Protection officers continue to seize large loads of drugs on the Texas-Mexico border.
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