Russian customs officers say woman hid jewelry inside baked chicken

MOSCOW, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Customs officials at a Moscow airport said they found a woman had jewelry hidden inside a baked chicken, jars of jam and other food items.

The Federal Customs Service said agents at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport searched through the luggage of a woman who arrived from New York and found jewelry hidden in the baked chicken, eggplant rolls and containers of jam, coffee and cream, The Moscow News and RIA Novosti reported Friday.

The woman said she had purchased the approximately $30,000 worth of jewelry for herself and hid it inside the food to avoid having to declare the items upon returning to Russia.