Some very passionate hột vịt lộn fans in Singapore must be worried sick about the whereabouts of their duck egg order.
Straits Times reports that on Wednesday, October 3, Singapore authorities imposed a SG$7,000 fine (US$5,068) on a Vietnamese woman who was caught trying to smuggle 490 hột vịt lộn into the island nation last month.
According to a joint statement by Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) and Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA), the woman was identified as 63-year-old Le Thi Ung. She allegedly bought the eggs from a local market in Vietnam before flying to Singapore.
The duck eggs weighed a total of 78.4 kilograms and were arranged in two styrofoam boxes in Ung’s luggage. Singapore customs conducted checks on her luggage when she landed at Changi Airport and promptly seized the eggs.
Hột vịt lộn, known as balut in Singapore, is not illegal in the country, but Ung was fined because she violated the Wholesome Meat and Fish Act, which states that those caught unlawfully importing meat products from unapproved sources can be fined up to SG$50,000 and jailed for two years.
The news source doesn’t specify why or for whom Ung attempted to procure the delicious contraband, but we imagine that they must be dejected to learn that the highly anticipated hột vịt lộn party was seized.
A few other outlandish smuggling attempts have been reported in Vietnam in the last few days as well. Late last month, just after the release of the new iPhone models, four American passengers were caught trying to bring 250 XS iPhones into Saigon. Earlier this week, custom officers in Hanoi also discovered a cargo of nearly one ton of pangolin scales and ivory from Nigeria.
[Photo via Straits Times]
