Offbeat

Meat smugglers busted at the border

EL PASO, Texas “”mdash; Border agents last week landed a meaty
bust, seizing 756 pounds of bologna arranged into the shape of a
car seat and covered with blankets in a man’s pickup.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized 81 rolls of
Mexican bologna Friday at the Paso Del Norte bridge as the pickup
entered the United States.

“It puts the ultimate consumer at risk,” said
customs spokesman Roger Maier. “Who knows how long these
products have gone without refrigeration or without proper
handling?”

Children were sitting on top of the illegal load before it was
discovered, Maier said. The rear seat had been removed from the
extended-cab pickup and bologna was put in its place.

He said the agency plans to pursue civil penalties against the
Mexican man driving the truck. Maier said the agency won’t
release the man’s name until the case goes to trial.

Maier said the bologna goes for about $1 a roll in Juarez. When
it is sold to a customer in the United States, it can go for
between $5 and $10 a roll, he said.

Shoddy disguise foils bank robbery

MODESTO “”mdash; An alleged bank robber identified by witnesses
because he forgot to cut eye holes in his disguise has been
arrested ““ a few blocks from where he pulled off the flawed
caper, police said.

Stephen David Walker was spotted Thursday afternoon walking down
a Modesto street near the Oak Valley Community Bank branch police
say he robbed on Monday.

Walker, 49, was booked at the Stanislaus County Jail on a bank
robbery charge, Modesto Police Detective Tom Blake said.

Police said Walker wore a square piece of flannel under a hat
and draped over his head during the heist. But, without eyeholes,
the bandit was forced to repeatedly lift the front corner of the
cloth so he could see where he was walking, Blake said.

Before fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect
bumped into a door headfirst, knocking off his hat, Blake said, and
giving witnesses a look at his face.

From Daily Bruin wire services.