Gulfport group brings iconic King Cakes back home

In broad daylight, six Coast residents assisted one another in smuggling King Cakes across state lines.

On Sunday morning, the group traveled from Gulfport to New Orleans for their mission to purchase as many Dong Phuong King Cakes as possible, which ended up being 52.

The group loves the Vietnamese bakery’s King Cakes and wanted more to have access to the beloved carnival treat.

Due to popular demand, the store has a three-cake limit per customer, which the group was able to avoid by using disguises.

They brought all of the cakes back and sold them at a bar in Gulfport. Within two hours, they were gone.

In hindsight, the group hopes they did not upset Dong Phuong Bakery, it was all with good intentions. King Cake Smuggler Terry McCormack said, “I really hope they don’t hate me for this. I really did it for the community. So many people over here want them and it’s the only way I could get them to my friends. We made it fair. We made it fair. It was first come, first serve. We made a post advertising it at Dong Phuong’s. When we got there, they were already waiting in line.”

The group has advice for individuals wanting to make the trip to New Orleans to purchase their own King Cake: get there first thing when they open at 8 a.m. If the line is long, don’t get discouraged, it moves fast.