Passenger slapped with $1.8K fine after airport K-9 sniffed out McDonald’s meal

It’s a no-fry zone.

A passenger flying from Bali, Indonesia, to northern Australia has been slapped with a $1,874 fine after a police dog sniffed his bag and found two McMuffins and a ham croissant.

The passenger, whose identity has not been released, had not declared the McDonald’s breakfast order before arriving last week at Darwin Airport in the country’s Northern Territory.

A passenger was fined $1,874 after two undeclared McMuffins were found in their luggage.

“This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger ever has,” Murray Watt, Australia’s minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, said Monday in a statement.

“This fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia’s strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught,” he added.

The pup named Zinta that caught the hungry passenger has been specially trained as part of the Australian government’s recent crackdown on imported food.

Australia has eradicated foot and mouth disease and wants to ensure it doesn’t get brought back into the country through undeclared meat products, its government said.

“Australia is FMD-free, and we want it to stay that way,” Watt added of the fine for the Darwin Airport passenger. “Zinta was placed at Darwin Airport as part of the Albanese Government’s tough new biosecurity defenses, and it’s excellent to see she is already contributing to keeping the country safe.”

The government has committed almost $10 million to further prosecute illegal imports and stop the spread of diseases. Airports there now have sanitation foot mats.

Passenger fined $1,874 after two undeclared McMuffins found in luggage

Aussie officials are particularly concerned about flights from Indonesia, where cattle are experiencing a foot and mouth disease outbreak, according to CNN. Experts say an outbreak Down Under could cost the country’s economy $80 billion.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/01/passenger-slapped-with-1-8k-fine-for-undeclared-mcdonalds-meal/