Chef Stopped at LAX With 40 Frozen Piranhas

by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:55 AM ET, Fri May 10, 2019

A famous chef from South America traveling through a Los Angeles airport last week was stopped when security officers found 40 piranhas in his duffel bag.

According to The Associated Press, Virgilio Martinez, who is the head chef and owner of the Central restaurant in Peru and stared on the Netflix show Chef's Table, had arrived at the security checkpoint of Los Angeles International Airport when the incident occurred.

A world-famous chef was stopped as he brought 40 piranhas through LAX | via Los Angeles Times / It's like this officer... it was eat or be eaten. https://t.co/brUrNgemGnpic.twitter.com/QxVoUBSW2o

- Tom Bolt (@TomBolt) May 9, 2019

Customs agents working the checkpoint at LAX discovered the bag filled with frozen, vacuum-sealed piranhas, and pulled Martinez into an interrogation room. After five hours of questioning, the chef was permitted to pass through security with the fish.

Martinez said he went on to serve the predatory, sharp-toothed fish during a food festival in Los Angeles the following day, with the meat being used on salads and the skins being dried and served inside the piranha heads.

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