Egg smuggling on the rise at US borders; more eggs seized than fentanyl this year

 

 

Amid the spread of bird flu, egg prices are soaring in the United States. As the price of eggs has risen, theft has also increased. As part of US President Donald Trump's order, strong checks are being carried out at the southern and northern borders of the United States to catch fentanyl smuggling. But now, reports say that people smuggling eggs are being caught more often than fentanyl. In the first two months of 2024, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized fentanyl 197 times. This decreased to 134 times during the same period in 2025. But CBP officers reportedly seized eggs and egg products 3,254 times in January and February of this year, compared with 1,508 times in the first two months of 2024.

Bruce Muirhead, public policy research chair for Egg Farmers of Canada, says the current number of egg seizures at the U.S. border is due to the pandemic and the resulting egg shortage. In February, a dozen eggs cost $5.90 in the United States. Consumers are now paying double the price they did in 2024. In some stores in California, prices have reportedly risen to nearly $10. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows that egg prices are set to rise by 41.1 percent in the coming months.

It is illegal to bring eggs, raw chicken, and other unprocessed poultry products into the United States, as bird flu has spread across North America in recent months.