BARSTOW, Calif., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. military and government officials are trying to find the source of Meals Ready to Eat that are up for online sale on the Internet.
Last October in a snapshot study, the Government Accountability Office found eight people offering more than four cases of MREs on the eBay auction Web site, The Los Angeles Times said. The Defense Department buys the packaged meals for $52.57 per 12-meal case.
But an eBay search by the newspaper Tuesday showed there were plenty of entrepreneurs pushing "genuine" and "military-issue" meals, with some bids as high as $66 a case.
Among those who have been approached by investigators were two Hurricane Katrina victims who were legally given the meals at relief centers and tried to resell them online, as well as a Marine in Albany, Ga., who admitted being investigated for swiping packages from a base trash bin.
Another man claimed he got his supply from the Boy Scouts, but a Scouts spokesman told the Times that boys prepare their own meals when camping.
