Dairy Queen was forced to clarify to its customers that it does not serve human meat in its burgers after a bizarre incident at a South Carolina location involving a swarm of federal agents and an unsubstantiated rumor, Fox News reports.
The story, involving wire fraud, accusations of terrorism, accusations of cannibalism, and a giant misunderstanding, got started last week. As Greenwood, South Carolina’s Index-Journal reported at the time, Saif Momin owns a Greenville Dairy Queen location. On Wednesday morning of last week, he was out of town when his phone alerted him that the motion-sensor alarms at the store were activated. He turned around and headed back to Greenville.
It was about 9:30 in the morning, well before the opening shift would be there. Instead of burglars, it was federal agents. Unbeknownst to Momin, agents from several federal law enforcement agencies, as well as local police, were conducting simultaneous raids elsewhere around town, including at a home and at a convenience store.
When the dust had settled, two people had been arrested. It seems that they were suspects in an unlicensed money wire-transfer operation. One of the men allegedly kept as much as $200,000 in cash in a safe at the Dairy Queen, and the other man had access to it.
Dairy Queen burgers not made of human meat, store confirms after feds swarm restaurant https://t.co/rxEZc8gk21
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) August 26, 2019
Momin was quick to point out that neither of the suspects worked at the store, and that none of the employees who did work there have been caught up in the investigation.
Terrorism?
When the Department of Homeland Security, money laundering, and illegal wire transfers intersect, one can’t help but wonder if it was related to terrorism. As it turns out, in this case, it wasn’t. Don Wood, a spokesman with the FBI’s Columbia field office, said that this case was not related to any terrorism investigation.
Cannibalism?
Also not related to this case was any accusation of cannibalism.
So how did the issue of the consumption of human flesh get attached to this story? Momin says that he was told “by a corporate inspector” that an individual had lodged a complaint that human meat was being served at his location.
“If that was the case, they already would have shut me down,” Momin said
Whether or not the raid was actually due to the supposed allegation of cannibalism, or whether it was just a case of remarkably bad timing, one thing is clear: Dairy Queen absolutely does not put human flesh in its burgers. The company was forced to say as much in a tweet.
Hi Matthew! At DAIRY QUEEN, we are very proud of our 100% beef hamburgers. We serve a high-quality hamburger with no additives or fillers.
— Dairy Queen (@DairyQueen) August 23, 2019
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Dairy Queen’s headquarters confirms that the company is aware of the federal raid in Greenville.
“We will be looking into this matter and will be following the ongoing investigation closely as more information becomes available,” the company said in a statement.