- A passenger was fined $1,995 after she brought a chicken sandwich into Australia.
- June Armstrong said paying the fine was difficult as she relied on her pension.
A New Zealand woman traveling to Australia was fined for entering the country with a chicken sandwich, The New Zealand Herald reported on Tuesday.
June Armstrong, 77, flew from Christchurch on the east coast of New Zealand to Brisbane Airport in northeastern Australia on May 2, per the report. She was fined 3,300 New Zealand dollars, or $1,995, for bringing an uneaten sandwich into Australia.
A border patrol staff later advised Armstrong to appeal the fine, per NZH. But when she tried appealing the fine, she only received automatic replies, per the report.
She said Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry only commented on the incident some six months later, after NZH reached out on behalf of Armstrong, per the report.
Armstrong said she packed the sandwich in her bag before the flight and, while she declared her prescription medication to authorities, forgot about the sandwich, per the report.
Armstrong told NZH she struggled to pay the fine as she and her husband rely on their pensions.
"Everybody I show the fine to is dumbfounded, they just can't believe it," Armstrong added.
A spokesperson for Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told Business Insider in a statement that Armstrong could have only brought the sandwich into the country if she had an import permit.
"Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks," the spokesperson said, adding that passengers can be fined up to 6,260 Australian dollars, or around $4,100, for bringing unauthorized food items into the country.
It's not the first time a passenger has been fined for bringing an undeclared item through an Australian airport. In August, a passenger was fined $1,200 for walking with a rose at an airport in Australia. And in August last year, a passenger was fined $1,870 for packing McMuffin sandwiches on a flight from Bali to Australia.