Panamanian Eggs
Confiscated
The border police made
another big bust
yesterday, but this time
instead of illegal
drugs, it was of illegal
eggs. 52.000 eggs in
total coming from Panama
and without the required
Sanidad Vegetal permit
of the Ministerio de
Agricultura y Ganadería
(MAG).
MAG agent,Krisia Gómez
Jiménez, explained that
they received a tip of a
truck carrying "an
important number of
boxes" which was quickly
intercepted in the area
of Caracol de Río Claro,
in Golfito.
"When we searched the
truck we found a large
number of boxes
containing eggs, brand
name Melo, and coming
from Panama", said Gómez.
The driver was not
carrying the permits for
the product and the eggs
were confiscated.
Authorities are
concerned of the entry
of eggs into Costa Rica
not knowing their
sanitary condition. In
addition, the Panamanian
eggs are valued at ¢52
colones each while Costa
Rican eggs are valued at
¢80 colones.
"For it is not
surprising to confiscate
eggs from Panama as we
are used to confiscating
all sorts of items,
including liquor,
appliances and tires",,
said Victor Granados of
the Fuerza Pública,
patrolling the southern
border.
The 142 cases of eggs
where sent to the Aduana
de Paso Canoas and then
taken to the MAG Paso
Canoas centre where they
are to be destroyed in
the coming days.
"We didn't know that the
business of buying eggs
in Panama and selling
them in Costa Rica was
so lucrative", said
Granados.
The confiscated eggs
were valued at ¢2.7
million colones and the
smugglers would have
made a profit of ¢1.4
million colones on the
lot, accorind to MAG
officials.
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