50 Wheels of Undeclared Cheese Cost NM Woman

Officers with Customs and Border Protection say they stopped a woman hiding contraband under a blanket in her SUV as she tried to cross the Texas border from Mexico earlier this month. But it wasn't drugs, or even weapons—though it may have been sharp: It was 50 wheels of cheese, on top of the 10 wheels the New Mexico woman had already declared, reports Insider. An officer at the Paso Del Norte border crossing in El Paso "located the declared dairy product in the trunk area," then found the additional wheels "hidden under blankets in the back row of the vehicle," on Sept. 6, according to a release.

Officers said the 100 pounds represented a commercial quantity of dairy. "A few wheels would generally be fine but not 60," El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio says in the release, per the Houston Chronicle. "It was undeclared and that amount would be a commercial quantity and additional reporting requirements would apply." In other words, there curd brie no gruyere area: The cheese was no gouda. The woman was handed a $1,000 civil penalty and released from custody, according to the release. It adds the 50 wheels of contraband cheese were "destroyed pursuant to existing guidelines." (More contraband stories.)