Israel: Azerbaijani Cabinet Minister Smuggled 110 Pounds Of Lamb Meat

JERUSALEM -- An Azerbaijani Cabinet minister has been left feeling sheepish after he was caught trying to smuggle more than 100 pounds of lamb meat into Israel.

Tax Authority spokeswoman Idit Lev-Zerahia said Thursday that 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of fresh meat were found in the minister's luggage this week during a routine inspection at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport.

She said the meat was confiscated by customs officials and later destroyed, according to protocol. She did not name the minister.

Israel requires permits for importing meat over one kilogram (2,2 pounds), she said.

The Israeli Haaretz paper reported that the minister's aides were embarrassed by the incident. They told the paper the meat was intended for the minister's meals during his visit to Israel.

Azerbaijani officials were not immediately available for comment.

Comments

[obinna000]

08:43 AM on 09/12/2011

110 pounds of Mutton? how long was this trip going to last for?

[wonderfullone]

10:27 PM on 09/11/2011

So the Isreali Minister was a "Glutton" for that mutton.

[straight32]

06:06 PM on 09/12/2011

Put your glasses on. it was an Azerbaijani cabinet minister not an israeli minister.

[Lahonda]

07:39 PM on 09/11/2011

I guess that curtailed any opportunity to kibitz over a plate of kibbeh at a kibbutz in Karmi'el while he was in the country.

The poor aides must have felt very sheepish.

[Talab]

07:09 AM on 09/11/2011

I recon Israel hasn't lost enough friends this week so they are looking to add to the list ... this is a foreign minister and Israel never misses an opportunity to be rude to their guests

[rilyn]

03:29 AM on 09/12/2011

So this guy tries to smuggle in fresh meat - something which is illegal pretty much everywhere - and Israel is somehow to blame for this.
Really you are getting ridiculous.

[LMPE]

01:03 AM on 09/11/2011

Double or mutton.

[JessCostello]

02:16 PM on 09/10/2011

I think there's more to this story than is being told.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

10:00 AM on 09/10/2011

well, at least he got caught before he went on the lamb;-D

[Lahonda]

07:28 PM on 09/11/2011

Officials were rather mute-on the matter as well. (wink)

[karen lyons kalmenson]

01:05 PM on 09/12/2011

you being lambidextrous;-D

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

03:25 AM on 09/10/2011

I remember hearing that when Fidel Castro came to New York to speak before the United Nations his men brought along live chickens because they were afraid the US would poison them. Don't think I've thought of that in 50 years, until I saw this story. I wonder if he thought someone would poison him in Israel. I also wonder what he was doing there. Life is full of mysteries....

[ArthroughpadNY]

02:10 AM on 09/10/2011

Oh do you know the mutton man, the mutton man, the mutton man?

[karen lyons kalmenson]

10:00 AM on 09/10/2011

how sheepish of you;-D

[Sam Bark]

01:51 AM on 09/10/2011

Are you sure it is NOT another prank by Borat......LMAO

[Shomali]

11:24 AM on 09/09/2011

So this guy was going to eat 50 pounds of meat while in Israel? How long was he going to stay there?

[2083]

05:09 PM on 09/09/2011

30 minutes, it was a stopover to his real destination.

[LMPE]

01:04 AM on 09/11/2011

You never know. The guy might have been the size of Rush Limbaugh and Haley Barbour combined.

[Lahonda]

07:30 PM on 09/11/2011

Then you mean the same weight a Chris Christie - who weighs two and a half Tafts.

[siegfried728711]

11:03 AM on 09/09/2011

I could c- if it was Porka .

[siegfried728711]

10:59 AM on 09/09/2011

so what was wrong with the meat ?

[battlinbob]

10:54 AM on 09/10/2011

Nothing.. Another example of how government knows whats best....

[CoronaDischarge]

02:44 PM on 09/11/2011

It came from a cloven hoof animal. Plus it wasn't purchased from Israeli meat wholesalers at marked up prices.

[ArthroughpadNY]

09:10 AM on 09/09/2011

OMG honey, theres a sheep in man's clothing.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

10:01 AM on 09/10/2011

ram a lam a ding dong, ewe know what i mean

[BestGuest]

08:53 AM on 09/09/2011

What was he doing in |$rae| in the first place.... oh never mind:

""The idea that Israel could use the Azerbaijanis as a potential fifth column against Iran echoes a similar suspicion voiced in the past about Israeli infiltration of the Kurdish populations in Iran and Iraq. Indeed, senior officials with Israel's foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, have spoken openly of having a presence in Iran's Kurdish areas.""
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_azerbaijan_turkey_war_of_words/24301086.html

[ArthroughpadNY]

09:16 AM on 09/09/2011

Instead of looking for ulterior motives maybe they have friendly relations? Why does there always have to be a secret motive? I just love people who put together a conspiracy theory in their own minds. Stop reading sci fi books.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

10:01 AM on 09/10/2011

too much science friction

[Sam Bark]

01:43 AM on 09/10/2011

bestGues -- keep guessing you are funny.....................hahahe