Posted on 04/22/2018 7:21:23 PM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
A Colorado woman is facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for saving a free apple she received as a snack from Delta Air Lines on her way back to the United States from Paris, France.
Crystal Tadlock told Fox 31 Denver, toward the end of her flight from Paris, flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags as a snack. Tadlock put the fruit in her carry-on to save for when she was hungry during the second leg of her trip.
Once Tadlock arrived in the U.S., she went through Customs and her bag was chosen to be randomly searched, Fox 31 reported. Tadlock says a Customs agent pulled out the apple in the plastic bag with Delta’s logo on it.
When questioned about the snack, Tadlock explained she received the apple from the airline and asked if she could throw it away or eat it, Fox 31 reported. The Customs agent allegedly told her no and fined her $500 for carrying the undeclared fruit.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Typically she has at the least already walked past signs informing her they aren’t allowed.
Had it been in her hand, she probably would have just been told. Being in her bag, they now have to search to find it - which is what they are trying to deter.
$500 is the price when they don’t have to make a legal determination whether it was deliberate or just dumbass. Deliberately smuggling is a whole additional set of penalties.
It seems like they should make a separate question for food, put food first in the list, or otherwise bring this to GE participants’s attention. Why give the government a bad name for what is carelessness and not a criminal activity?
I’m curious as to what kind of biohazard containment and disposal protocols Delta and other international carriers have.
“I’ve never brought fruit into the US from overseas.”
Neither did this woman. The airline is the guilty party here.
So where do you think the apple cores go?
Should they not be subject to fines?
Not that you’ll have the fortitude to even attempt an answer.
And trying to steal one from that same
Dang Machine!
Actually, the answer to that is posted in at least one of the several threads. They are treated as contaminated and incinerated.
It’s sad that some people apparently think they are so perfect they can point fingers in condemnation over someone who makes an honest mistake.
As someone else pointed out, since the airline gave it to her, she probably didn’t give it a second thought.
An example of this is water. You can’t carry it past TSA to get into the gate but if you buy it for an extortionate rate on the terminal, it’s OK to have on the plane. And carry off, no doubt.
Sometimes you just run across a crank working at airports.
That's because it's safe to do, and is a money maker.
The rules against importing fruit are not nearly as bad as some other asinine regulations of Fedgov. However, I'd be interested in knowing exactly what they did with this fruit. If they threw it in the trash, then this is nothing but a security theater shakedown of an American just to raise revenue. (because they can) If they actually sealed and secured the fruit so no insects could escape, then they were actually doing something useful. I seriously doubt the latter.
No, she was exactly smuggling an agricultural good.
God save us from those who worship the law.
Once upon a time, when this nation was an actual Constitutional Republic, the law had to consider intent as well as just the bare facts. Apparently, the only people for whom alleged "intent" matters are those named 'Hillary Clinton'.
That does seem like an idea that would pop up at some point.
You can’t bring ANY sort of fresh produce into the US for fear of importing another crop-destroying pest.
I thought everyone knew this.
Having not flown in ages, because I don't cooperate meekly with facist thugs, I'm not really familiar with the procedures. Is the container the allegedly contaminated fruit placed in a sealed biohazard container? If not, all that is occurring is more useless security theater. If they are just being thrown into a trash can, what is going to be done with that trash? If it is going to a landfill, then there is no benefit to America for the confiscation of the property of an American citizen. If it's going into a sealed container that will be incinerated, then at least the stated (and legitimate to a certain degree IMO), reason for doing so is accomplished.
That too, but I was referring to the other FReeper to whom you were replying.
Yes.
Sorry, you can only cross the Mexican border with an Apple late at night.
LOL. I don't believe there is anything that qualifies for that statement. There are still folks who claim to believe the earth is flat.
LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.