Most expensive ever: Passenger fined $1850 for contraband McMuffins

It could well be the most expensive McDonald's breakfast ever. A passenger from Bali was fined about $1,850 after two undeclared egg and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were detected in their backpack on arrival in Australia.

The 'contraband' was discovered by a biosecurity detector dog Zinta last week at the Darwin Airport in Northern Territory.

This is because Australia has new hyper-stringent biosecurity laws to protect its agriculture industry from imported pests and diseases.


That there is an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia made it all the more worse for the unnamed passenger

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects livestock, so meat imports from Indonesia are being screened. The disease very rarely affects humans.

The fine amount came to Australian dollars 2,664, which converts to $1,845 - enough for to-and-fro flight tickets between Bali and Darwin.

"This will be the most expensive Maccas meal this passenger ever has," AFP quoted Australian agriculture minister Murray Watt as saying.