Originally Posted by
Sailvi767
Random checks for global entry passengers are so rare I suspect she had never had one and may not have even known they exist. Probably never occurred to her she would be caught. It is however also possible she just forgot about it.
.....From just one of many accounts..
Crystal Tadlock was traveling on the first leg of
her flight home from Paris when she received an apple wrapped in plastic with a
Delta Air Lines logo displayed on the packaging as part of an in-flight meal,
KDVR reports.
Tadlock told the local Denver news outlet that she wasn’t hungry, so she stashed the apple in her bag and planned to eat it on her second flight back to Denver.
Tadlock plans to fight the ticket in court, and
she’s upset because she could possibly lose her Global Entry Status. “It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that
and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit,” Tadlock said.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says that “privacy policy prohibits CBP from discussing the details of any individuals specific inspection, however
all agriculture items must be declared. Prohibited items that are not declared by a passenger are confiscated and disposed of by CBP. More importantly,
civil penalties may be assessed for failure to declare prohibited agricultural products and may range up to $1,000 per first-time offense for noncommercial quantities.”
Although Tadlock said she was “frustrated” with the way customs handled the situation, she told
KDVR that
she wishes Delta had warned customers not to take the fruit off the plane or not passed out the snack at all.
Delta has videos in their in-flight entertainment system that detail what passengers need to know when going through customs.
“Delta recommends all passengers comply with U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules and regulations when entering the country,” the
Delta spokesperson said. “
U.S. Customs has clear warnings at the entry point and on the declaration form that you must declare fruit that is brought into the country. It appears that this passenger did not declare the apple and it was discovered upon inspection.”
This entire incident is more a case of; Clueless woman feels entitled to not know the rules, adhere to the rules, that Delta should advise her of USDA Rules verbally because she's too lazy to read or adjust their inflight snacks, is "upset" that she may lose her GE privilege because she got caught, and is now fishing for victimhood status using the media in a display so ignorant she doesn't even realize she's displaying her own ignorance not only of the Rules she was supposed to know but also how criminals are actually treated.
Oh my, she's upset, no more privilege. "Treated like a criminal"....Really? Where are the handcuffs lady?..no, she was treated exactly like someone who didn't declare an agricultural product and tried to bring it into the country; her fruit was taken and she was fined. End of. The fact that this vapid little story of someone stupid getting caught and fined by Customs for undeclared fruit has become "news", let alone "international news" on the basis of her whining just illustrates how quickly the media is jumps on any non-story involving an airline or airports and attempts to manufacture controversy.
If this woman made it this far in life without knowing why there are Agricultural importation rules, then she can't be helped and isn't to be trusted. It's abundantly clear she can't be because she automatically looks for someone else to blame for her own failings, believing that Delta should have told her, or not given out fruit at. Same if she has Global Entry status and thinks it makes her immune from being checked. A laughable assumption only an illiterate child could be excused for making. It's all in black and white, but this woman clearly operates based on how she feels or what she's experienced before, believing this is a substitute for knowledge.
Hopefully, if she takes it to court like she says she will the judge will fine her the other $500 of the $1000 in an attempt to shock her into accepting responsibility for her actions and ignorance like an adult instead of crying like a wronged, entitled princess. Perhaps since she insists on acting and thinking like a school age child, he can appropriately sentence her to detention until she writes a 5,000 word essay on invasive species and crop losses for wasting the court's time. If forced to, she might actually learn something.
If she were attempting to do the same into Australia, NZ, or the UK, she certainly wouldn't be getting so many joining her Pity Party.
What's being lost here is the underlying reason why this non-story rose to prominence and this whiny woman got airtime; She feels/claims she got "treated like a criminal" by CBP and she's also pointing one of her fingers at Delta, suggesting they are partly to blame for it. She says as much herself...
"I understand the laws and the department of agriculture doesn't want certain insects in the US. But once again, the apple is from Delta and I think that's the most important part of this story.
Many people just love to hate on the airlines, CBP, TSA, etc so this non-story has a couple of the correct little triggers to catch the eye and empathy of some for this poor, poor mistreated lady who claims she "understands the laws". Apparently, she's self-deluded about that as well because obviously she doesn't.