Scott Shackford of Reason.com writes that homemade tamales sold on street corners or directly from people’s houses are about as common as lemonade stands in communities across the Southwest United States and probably elsewhere.

It’s an avenue for people without a lot of resources to make some scratch on the side. And they’re very popular around the holidays in the Latino community. Of course, this is all totally illegal. They don’t have business permits. They don’t have professional kitchens. There’s all sorts of rules and regulations to follow, but attempting to do so would be so costly that it would likely turn it into a money-losing venture.

So because of government fears about food safety, there’s a black market for tamales. In Carrollton, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, Dennise Cruz found out the hard way not to do anything that could draw attention from government meddlers. Cruz decided to sell tamales from her home, advertised as such on a community social-media site called Nextdoor, and then the city cracked down hard on her, sending her a $700 fine for selling food without a permit. They didn’t send her a warning or come and shut her down. They when straight to threatening her with arrest unless she forked over a ton of money. The local CBS affiliate in Dallas covered the horrific crime:

A director said a fine was issued and not a warning because tamales are considered “potentially hazardous food” due to the cooked corn and meat being used.

“What if somebody got sick from them? What if somebody could have died from them? And I completely understand those concerns,” said Cruz.