Celebrity chef caught smuggling piranhas

People try to sneak things past customs officials every day, but celebrity Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez has probably topped them all. The owner of Central restaurant in Peru and featured chef in the third season of Netflix’s Chef’s Table was recently attending the Los Angeles Times’ month-long food festival known as the Food Bowl and decided to bring along a delicacy from his country – piranhas.

Martinez was caught with 40 of the frozen animals in his hand luggage as he attempted to make his appearance at the festival something to remember.

“I was extremely obsessed about bringing piranhas because we serve piranhas in the Amazon at Central, so I said, ‘Guys, why not take a risk to bring piranhas to L.A.?’” Martinez told the Los Angeles Times. “You probably have preconceived notions about piranhas because of movies but for me, piranhas, we go fish them.”

Martinez was stopped by customs officials who decided to investigate further after his poor English made him fluff one of their questions. When asked what he had inside his bag, Martinez apparently simply replied: “Bones” leading to a five-hour interrogation by an overly zealous customs official.

“I told him that it was from my heart and showed him a few photos,” Martinez said. “I took my book and said, ‘Look, this is what I want to do with the piranhas.’ And he finally said, ‘Oh, wow, go ahead’,” Martinez laughed.

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