The U.S. Customs and Border Protection have fined a Colorado woman $500 after she saved her Delta Airlines-issued apple. Crystal Tadlockhad been travelling from Paris back to the U.S. when flight attendants on her Delta flight passed out apples in sealed plastic bags with the Delta logo on it. Tadlock stashed her apple in her carry on to save for later if she got hungry on the second part of her trip.
Well, U.S. customs had a different idea. When Tadlock arrived back in the U.S., she went through customs and her bag was searched at random. The customs agent soon found the apple. "He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah.'," explained Tadlock. "I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500.'" She told to the agent that she received the apple from Delta and asked if she could throw it out or eat it. He allegedly told her no and fined her. Tadlock plans on fighting her charge in court. She says, "It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit.”
- For those who don't know - U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a VERY strict policy that “every fruit or vegetable must be declared to a CBP Agriculture Specialist or CBP Officer." A spokesperson for the CBP says that items that are not declared are “confiscated and disposed of” by the CBP and failure to declare the products could result in a fine up to $1,000 per first-time offense.
Source: Fox 31 Denver