The owners of Tel Aviv’s Toto Restaurant were questioned by authorities last week after they were apprehended by customs agents in Ben-Gurion International Airport. They had in their possession 40kg of goose liver and 60kg of shrimp as assorted seafood. Authorities believe they smuggled the foods from Holland. Officials believe they planned to use the treif smuggled imports for the reopening of their restaurant.
The two and two employees arrived on a flight from Holland and for reasons that are not reported; they attracted the suspicion of agents in the arrivals terminal. Veterinary inspectors report this marks a first time that they apprehended a passenger with livers. The value of the livers is reportedly €2,000. The livers were confiscated and destroyed.
Officials report that they were trying to avoid paying taxes and import fees on the food. The chef of the restaurant, who was one of the passengers, is known for his part in a popular Israeli cooking show, “Mischak HaChef” (The Chef Game).
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Throw them in jail and throw away the key.
I love how biased this reporting is. one little click of the mouse shows you that this restaurant is apparantly open on shabbos and serves meat and milk dishes. with no mention of a kosher certification. So the fact that they smuggled in treif pate’ shouldnt make a bit a difference to anyone, except that its a tragedy that restaurants like this exist in Israel today. but sadly they do. the article could have been presented without the word treif inserted. just report the news. leave the rashi tosfos to the op ed commentators.
for reasons that are not reported; they attracted the suspicion of agents Because custom officials {in Israel & USA & UK & other countries} are trained to look for nervous people & read body language. Furthermore, these bags were probably sniffed out by customs patrol dogs before arriving on the carrousel.
I guess the inspectors sensed something was fishy.