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Flour in Condoms Sent Her to Jail

mapinc.org — A College Student Spent 3 Weeks in Jail After a Field Test Said She Was Carrying Drugs. She Filed a Lawsuit.

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  • jmontes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+67Reminds me of people getting accused of being a drug user because they ate something with poppy seeds in it before a drug test. If the test here really was at fault then it is not a valid test to use. Or at least it can't be used in isolation - positive test results must immediately be further verified with a more thorough test.
    • icematrix, on 10/12/2007, -48/+16Someone tries to get on a plane with a bunch of white-powder filled condoms which drug testing kits are showing positive for opiates... umm

      The racial accusations in this article are ridiculous. She shouldn't have been in custody for more than a day while further testing was done, but ignoring the overwhelming evidence and calling the police racist is such a cop out (pun intended)
    • dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -73/+19I despise corrupt police officers like that. They act completely what we would expect of a far right fascist dictatorship. She should count herself lucky she wasn't tortured in prison as if often te case in US prisons.

      I expect the police to retaliate. She should be very careful with traffic controls, etc. If she get searched next time, on "probably cause" they WILL make sure they'll "find" drugs.
    • thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -31/+9Field tests are ALWAYS biased towards the positive. It does lead to a few extra false-positives, but the point is for a quick screening to know who is definitely NOT carrying something.

      I would bet the three days in jail were a result of a more accurate and in-depth testing of the substance in the condoms.

      @dagonweb

      Put down the crack pipe and just walk away...
    • ICSU, on 10/12/2007, -33/+9@icematrix
      She is just using the
      http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6797/racecardaf1.jpg

      BTW, Who Carries Flour In Condoms? Test Maybe?
    • TheCaptainJS, on 10/12/2007, -15/+64How in the hell does Flour test positive for drugs? I Smell *****.
    • honds, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29@dagonweb
      I usually don't respond to stuff like that but your comment was just way way over the top. I'm not saying these cops are innocent, but I'm not saying they are corrupt either. We live in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty. The cops are not above the law. But they are not beneath it either. Thye have to follow the same laws we do. What the hell gives you the right to say they are guilty until proven innocent?

      @TheCaptainJS
      Perhaps some idiot used a contaminated machinery or workspace. I am not an expert but I would think that if the cops were corrupt they would be smart enough to say it is one drug not three implausably mixed together. Careless contamination (not the same as police corruption or racism!) makes much more sense to me.
    • roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Drug tests look for a specific chemical combination or reaction. Lab tests look for multiple unique reactions to be completely positive, field tests generally only react to one specific combination. Its very possible that something in the spermicide/latex powder could have yielded the false positive.

      ***** luck, maybe, but come on...who carries flour filled condoms on a plane?

      I'm not saying that the cops did everything perfectly, but they didn't do much wrong either, they did exactly what they were supposed to do by the book. The DA and Prosecutor dropped the ball though.



    • LogicBomB, on 10/12/2007, -32/+6IMHO they shouldn't need a test to throw her into the slammer until investigation. She very purposefully disguised a safe substance as hard, controlled drugs. She *KNEW* what it looked like and tried for some reason to slip it by anyway.

      It would be like bringing a realistic looking handgun into the terminal - expect to be thrown to the ground, searched, and detained.
    • benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -23/+3Yeah the police were wrong but even so the dumb bitch shouldnt have carried condoms of flour through an airport. With everything thats going on in this day and age where you cant even take damn shampoo on a plane what the ***** did she think would happen. Theres plenty of traditional stress reliever squishy balls or whatever out there. I suggest her dumbass get one.
    • TheCaptainJS, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30@honds

      Sure it may very well have been contamination... but sorry... their profession is not one where mistakes can be made. Carelessness is unacceptable IMO.
    • VAXcat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+56 One of the biggest problems in dealing with law enforcement is that the cops almost never suffer any negative consequences for mistakes that cause innocent people to be arrested, so they have no motivation whatsoever to avoid them.
    • andreo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17@ LogicBomB

      To here it "looked like" a condom that was filled with flour, Just like she said. Not everyone is as well versed in the methods of transporting or smuggling drugs as you seem to be. I doubt very much that she wanted to see if she could cause problems for the baggage screeners or to see if she could sneak one by them.
      Everyone is not out to get one by on everyone else.

      This entire story reminds me of a return trip from Canada. I was asked: "what is this in your bag". To which I replied: clothes. They asked: "what else". Me: "Um, condoms, I have 2 or 3 left from the dozen that I brought up with me :)". Screener: "No, what else?". Me: "..." Screener: "no this bottle". Me: "oh, that's a stir-fry sauce that was given to me". Screener: "oh".
      The mini game of 20 questions could have been avoided by just asking what was in the bottle instead of them seeing if I would somehow breakdown or whatever they were trying to accomplish. And there's a similar story involving my electric shaver during a trip back from Cancun.

      This could have ruined her life and all the presumed hard work that she done so far. I hope she wins the suit, I hope she wins enough where she doesn't have to work a day in her life. I hope that the person that did the test is held accountable and shown the door. And I think she is very very lucky that she had the support that she did or she probably would be serving her sentence by now.
    • crweaks23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Case is settled:

      http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/04/national/a131621S75.DTL&type=bondage
    • JWood, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1crweaks23:

      Where does it say that the case has been settled? All it says different from the original article is that a trial date has been scheduled.
    • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"How in the hell does Flour test positive for drugs? I Smell *****."

      Field tests typically involve mixing a sample of the suspect substance with a chemical reagent. The person performing the test then observes the mixture for a change in color and the the timing of that change, if it occurs.

      It's pretty easy for some cop playing amateur chemist to confuse the reagents and or their reactions.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -17/+5moral of the story - post 9/11 DON'T ***** AROUND IN AN AIRPORT! I mean wtf could you be thinking bringing something like that on a plane? Why not just buy a cylinder and write TNT on it. Serves her right for being stupid.
    • NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12You know what..If i see some girl with condoms filled with some white powder i know what id be thinking it was. This is also the same reason I don't walk around with a sandwich bag filled with oregano.
    • pizpot, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14moral of the story - when in a police state, carry your papers, follow all laws, stay in line...
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -13/+15Why are you guys sympathizing with her?

      Condom filled with White Found
      Guards Suspicious
      They do a test
      The test is positive
      They arrest

      It isn't like they found a granule of sugar at the bottom of her bag, they found *THREE* condoms *FILLED* with *WHITE POWDER*. After a test came back positive, how are you led to believe that the next step wouldn't be an arrest?
    • fyngyrz, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6Another sterling episode in the US war on personal choice.
    • GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8Next time I'm at an airport, I'll bring red tubes (which keep my hands busy) with TNT written on them (I like to think of phrases that start "T" "N" "T", writing it helps me visualize words), a big alarm clock (to wake me up on the bus when I get off the plane), and a nice, baggy hoody to keep me warm. When the guards stop me (after finding traces of all trinitrotoluene over my clothes), I'll sue them for emotional damages.

      Or, how about I fill up condoms with flour, use an excuse like "I like to squeeze them", fail a drug test and then sue them? It is equally rediculous.
    • breser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Jwood

      In the first sentence of the link that crweaks23 posted:
      "A woman who was arrested and jailed for three weeks on drug charges for what turned out to be flour-filled condoms has settled a lawsuit against the city for $180,000."

    • thund3rstruck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"How in the hell does Flour test positive for drugs? I Smell *****."

      Easy, the testers are completely ***** incompetent. Look at Lab-Corps, I have known hard core crack users that test negative for drugs during pre-employment screenings. If private consultants can't get it right then most certainly some jerk-off doing an onsite test is bound to get it wrong as well.
  • deanlowe, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5Drug tests...don't they use dogs at airports?!
    • kokorhekkus, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2I think that no drug dog is trained (or even possible to train) to detect ALL narcotics classed substances, They just detect drugs - not absence of them.
    • heythisismyname, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Actually at first the cop thought he was smelling doughnuts
    • purpleeggguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I had a bad experience with drug-snifing dogs. One time i was headed home from a vacation in germany, and some of my friends had stuffed hay in my suitcase as a prank. Well, the dogs found it and i was detained for several hours until the lab tests came back as: "Hay".
  • abid786, on 10/12/2007, -77/+3Can't really blame posters for grammer/spelling errors when the article itself has errors. . .
    • faulkner, on 10/12/2007, -5/+78Next time you say something like that, spell 'grammar' correctly.
    • baxtermaddux, on 10/12/2007, -22/+15haha. the obligatory self righteous grammar checker on digg that can't spell. gotta love teh internetz
    • brykl, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2HAHA! that is awesome. at least he got "spelling" correct.
    • painkillr, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3you must feel like a total jackass now
    • dlbear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think his speeling is just fine
  • olego, on 10/12/2007, -4/+47The Description Is Really Difficult To Read.
    • jshusta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Agreed. Please Learn How To Type; All Words Were Not Created Equal.
    • Velveteen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Maybe The Poster Thought The Summary Was Part Of The Headline?
  • nerdgoturd, on 10/12/2007, -23/+13wouldn't it be easier to buy an actual stress reliever?
    there's no need to fill condoms with flour
    • baxtermaddux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+53maybe she likes her bread shaped like a penis?
    • madfusion15, on 10/12/2007, -33/+12it was a joke you *****..did you not read the article..girls squeeze condoms to relieve stress, and condoms are usually filled with ***** but this time it was flour..go hang yourself and the rest of your family.
    • clyde2801, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29Well, she just broke up with her boyfriend, who was a baker...
    • narcofiche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Or the pillsbury dough boy.
    • snurfle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"You're not going out with that cake-eater again, are you?"

      Mitch Hedberg
      RIP
    • moleytron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10because a condom and a bit of flower is much cheaper?

      also : fun.
    • Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13There is "no need" for a lot of things, but she didn't do anything wrong.
    • adidos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@ moleytron
      I think you mean flour :)
    • eplawless, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF207-Gingerbread_Man.jpg#197
  • xGBox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Climax of this story:
    ---
    "The officer asked about the white powder in the condoms.

    They were filled with flour, she said, and were silly stress-relief contraptions that she had made with classmates as part of a freshman rite of passage in her Main Line dorm.

    'It's A Girl Thing'

    "I tried to explain that it was a joke, a gag gift for friends. It's a girl thing. I said, 'You squeeze them to reduce stress."
    • baxtermaddux, on 10/12/2007, -3/+38i was not aware women liked to pass the time during exams week by clutching fake penises. maybe i should offer to be a stand-in sometime
    • Nogger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+99You have a fake penis? Poor you.
    • Jumboto, on 10/12/2007, -24/+2@baxtermaddux: A+ comment.

      @Nogger: Also A+.
    • narcofiche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+47A rare case where a "gag gift" could have multiple meanings.
    • Asvetic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I personally thought, "She did modern-dance moves to keep limber" was an interesting detail.

      Anyway - who brings condoms filled with ANYTHING onto a plane?
    • harmonic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1well, i suppose even bringing condoms filled with ***** isn't even right.... I mean, you're all dressed up with nowhere to go!
  • dwcharn, on 10/12/2007, -19/+7Filling condoms with flour is such an odd thing to do to most people. What did she expect would happen? There is only news article after news article about airport security. If her schooling is throwing off her logic that much maybe it is time to quit school and move back home with the parents.
    • smcavoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17well I think low on the list of expectations would be going to jail.
      Yes it looks suspicious, but what law was broken that required her to be sent to jail?
    • Alphabet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7spoilers: Life is full of ***** odd things. You can't assume everything is normal all the time. And no one is psychic with the ability to predict/expect how other people will act.
    • dwcharn, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Oh I agree with you there, and three weeks is too long of a time as well, but even if she is innocent, any person is still going to quite question something like that, especially at an airport.
    • Smokezz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Question it... sure. But to spend 3 weeks in jail for this? No, thats ridiculous. Someone screwed up, badly. A field test should never be the enough to put someone in jail anyways. It should always immediately go to the lab for further testing to ensure the field test was accurate.
    • Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"What did she expect would happen?"
      Read the context of the article. She didn't expect anything to happen.
      She had finished her exams and was going home for Christmas.
      Might have been dumb just to not leave them in her dorm, but three weeks in jail? C'mon...
    • dwcharn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1You guys are right. I suppose I just meant that she does have some responsibility.
    • gigsgtox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5lets not make that statement either. Just because she did something unusual doesnt mean she should have to try and predict the reactions of stupid people. By similar logic, you arrive at the rape scenario of she was asking for it. In this case, she should probably have expected a funny look or two from security, maybe testing one of the condoms, but trying to predict the reactions in the way you suggest only leads to people not being able to live their lives for fear of what others will do to them.
    • thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2@Smokezz

      And how long do you think those extra tests took.... in a major city?

      Oh, sure it shouldn't be enough for jail time.... but what are the police gonna do? Let a possible drug smuggler go with a promise that they will return when the tests are done?

      Three weeks is a long time, but damn. And it's not like this girl is completely without fault. White substance in condoms. Wants to get on a plane. Ain't gonna happen without SERIOUS trouble bud. That's just common sense in a world that's seen multiple Anthrax attacks.
    • concertina, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4oh noes1!l! teh anthrax!l1!!

      God, I swear sometimes people are such ninnies. Five people in the country get mailed anthrax and you think you're all on the next whack job^W^W terrorist's hit list.

      News flash: that plane you're boarding just might crash before you land. Which do you think is more likely to cause your death?
  • firsttube, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Anyone who knows what's up knows they should mix their drugs together like that before putting them in condoms!
    • Fitzwarren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Out of interest how would you "UNmix" them in order to actually sell them later?
    • NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You just bake "speed bread" with it.
  • icepick314, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3and why isn't this on major news network?

    i know that current security system at airports are still in need of improvement but this is beyond belief...

    how can a test mistake a simple flour with meth and/or cocaine?

    also she shouldn't have taken such an item on airplane...these days, airport securities are far more strict and does not take "jokes" lightly...
    • IHaveIssues, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12"and why isn't this on major news network?"

      'cause it from 2005 maybe?
    • brotherfranciz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, thanks for pointing that out - I skipped the dates when I read through it... and from the look of other comments, a lot of others did too...
    • endx7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There is a bit of news to this: she just recently got a settlement out of it.
  • davidjunit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"Why did the police field test initially conclude that the white powder contained drugs?"

    Because no one did a field test?

    "They told her a field test showed that the powder contained opium and cocaine."

    I get the feeling that they didn't even do the "field test" and just ASSUMED it was cocaine. I hope they get hit good for being so stupid.
    • Fitzwarren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I suspect they actually did do the test. The fact that they said they detected more than one drug is highly suggestive of bad practices that left the equipment with residues from previous tests. This happens a lot. Thus the need for independent verification which she was very lucky to have got.
    • IamTheProfessor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I wonder if the field test consisted of the officers rubbing the powder on their lips...........

      'YUP! THIS IS THE SAME COCAINE I GET FROM LEROY DOWN AROUND THE BLOCK!!!'
    • trance, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@Fitzwarren

      "Thus the need for independent verification which she was very lucky to have got."

      Lucky? I agree with you she was lucky, but it's frightening that our justice system is now depending upon luck to sort drug dealers and Freshman college students from each other.
      I hope that her lawsuit not only succeeds wildly, but sets a precedent that makes this travesty impossible to reproduce. This, if true as reported, is completely unacceptable and unconscionable. The comments attempting to call the student's character and judgment into question are also frightening and suggest to me that the level of fear we are currently living with is acceptable and justifiable by many of you. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, I've just made my point.
    • Fitzwarren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well I'm from the UK however the same silliness is going on over here.

      http://www.leap.cc/
      LEAP law enforcement against Prohibition

      There isn't an equivalent UK organisation although I wish there was.
  • duffield, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://duggmirror.com/offbeat_news/Flour_in_Condoms_Sent_Her_to_Jail/
  • Jumboto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Someone go do some research.
    I want to know the ending of this story.
    Still pending????
    Charges dropped but did she receive her settlement?

    ugh...... retard cops and retard wannabe cops.
  • voteforblank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Crooked Cops Caught Creative Condom Contraption!
  • brindon, on 10/12/2007, -40/+2SUSPECTED DRUG CRIMINALS SHUD BE AUTOMATICALLY EXECUTED AND THEN GET THERE TRAIL. THAT WILL TEACH THEM. SHE WOULDNT BE BITCHING THEN WUD SHE! NO JUST BECAUSE OF A GLITCHE IN THE SISTEM SHE GETS OUT BECAUSE SHE WAS SELLIGN "BAD STUFF". SHE LUCKED OUT BUT THEYLL GET HER NEXT TIME, GOSH.
  • venuspcs, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2I wonder if it felt like the real thing when it was stuck up her badonkeydonk?
  • liquidcola, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9This happened in 2003... It's 2007.
  • charleskelkv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2While the flour in the condom was an integral part of the story, and remains the butt of most of the comments on this page, might anybody step back and take a look at the real tragedy of the story:

    "Why did the police field test initially conclude that the white powder contained drugs? (and later) Either the field test was faulty or someone fixed the results."
    also:
    "A prison guard recognized her from a Bryn Mawr volunteer job at Overbrook High School and took pity on her. The guard told Lee that she believed her and that the whole thing was probably racial."

    When are we as a species going to grow beyond stereotyping. I'm not saying I'm never guilty of it, it even can be helpful in some cases, protecting us if there's an example of a glaring, dangerous stereotype in front of us. I don't think, however, that we should let our stereotypes overwhelm rational thinking.
    • Daddaluma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Oh I agree. It's time we got past that raging stereotype of all Asians being drug dealers . . .
  • Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9After the settlement...
    "Lynne Sitarski, a lawyer for the city, said the city is not admitting wrongdoing or liability."

    Wow. They did nothing wrong... They only put an innocent teenage college girl in jail for three weeks over the holidays.
    • dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I suppos the same city will pay for her school now. Good for her.
  • Hates, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6While I feel for the girl, carrying a white powder in a condom on-board a plane is just asking for trouble. If you saw it you're first thought would be "Those are drugs".
    • Kaglan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I don't know. I probably would have thought "that's a bit odd" and thought no more of it. But maybe I'm a bit naive about these things.
    • brotherfranciz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Well, if you followed the link that rangelite posted:


      "Lee, now a 21-year-old senior, told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday that she did not know that drug dealers often carry drugs in condoms, and that she had just packed them because she thought they were funny and wanted to show friends at home.

      "I was naive, really stupid," Lee said."
    • AlfaWolph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whether that's asking for trouble or not the tests were obviously flawed or fixed- I'm betting the latter. A correctly administered test should have been enough to send her on her way.
  • Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I guess the cops don't check the authenticity by tasting a bit on their finger like in the movies, after all. ;)
  • SteveDeGroof, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wasn't there a similar story on here a while ago involving someone being arrested for smuggling drugs because he had a rubber band ball in his carry-on? Something like that.
  • o2o2o2o2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Headline: Flour companies caught adding cocaine to flour
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  • dpgtfc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0What comparative literature major takes calculus?
    • IamTheProfessor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Seeing as how you must not have attended college, there are these things called "General Education Requirements." You can't just take classes for your major, you have to take XX credits in General Education so that you are "well rounded."

      :Maybe I was a bit presumptuous to say you didn't attend college. My bad.:
    • cyn0sure, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@IamTheProfessor

      Most liberal arts degrees don't require calculus. Are you sure you went to college yourself?
    • IamTheProfessor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@cyn0sure

      I majored in Criminology (Liberal Arts) and I needed 2 classes in the mathematics field. I chose Statistics and Pre-Calc while other people in my major chose Calc and Stats and a plethora of other combinations. Nobody said the that Calculus itself was required - but it is in no way a stretch to see a Lit Major in a Calc class, it's not even all that advanced - kids in High School are taking Calculus.
    • RoboPimp3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"What comparative literature major takes calculus?"

      An Asian one.
  • maisis00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow that was more than a little messed up. I hope she wins the lawsuit.
    • profOblivion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3She settled for $180 000. Look further up on this page for the link.
    • enicholas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1$60K a week for sitting in jail? Where can I sign up?

      In all seriousness, when the payoff for something is such that you could easily form a line a mile long of people willing to go through it for the same amount of money, it's too damned high.
    • concertina, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's called punative damages, sherlock. It's designed to make the screeners more careful about who they frame next time around. So maybe there won't be a next time.
    • drmobutu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"$60K a week for sitting in jail? Where can I sign up?"

      What's stopping you from pulling the same stunt, at an airport near you?

      Oh, yeah, the three weeks in jail, wondering if you'll EVER get out...
    • concertina, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Err, make that the punative damages that she would have received had this case gone forward, which would have been far greater than $180,000.
  • batfan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Yeah, last I heard they settled for $180,000 out of court.
    That's $60,000 per week spent in jail. Unfortunately
    no mention about the police that conducted an
    incorrect field test.
  • Pushkin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The customs officer should have known immediately it could not have been drugs since powder filled condoms are normally swallowed prior to going through checks...
    • Hates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe she was too full from lunch to finish them off.
  • OMGWTFROFLMAO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At least she didn't put baking soda in them. She would be ***** then.

    Also, "Lee acted tough to protect herself. She did modern-dance moves to keep limber. Inmates saw this and gossiped: "Everyone thought I knew karate because I'm Asian." She certainly didn't discourage the stereotype."

    LOL She's lucky she wasn't a guy in a male prison. She surely would have had her "karate" skills tested by someone looking to make a name/prove himself.
    • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That quote is hilarious. Thank you for sharing.
    • dlbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When I was in charge of a housing pod at a large state penitentiary there was a young Korean man there, he ran a successful chain of restaurants and brought his entire family to the US to work for him. He was a walking weapon. When his older brother stole from his father and disrespected the family he beat him to death with his bare hands.

      If I needed someone to be "talked" to avoid throwing them in the hole for being a danger to everyone else I asked him to do it, he was feared and respected. I once asked asked him if he'd do it differently if he had the chance. He said absolutely not, prison is much better than living with shame. I genuinely respected him.
  • dvfreelancer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Interesting that there are screeners looking through checked luggage. Apparently all that focus on gadgets to detect explosive residue never panned out.

    $180K isn't jack if she has to spend the rest of her life explaining the arrest to potential employers. You can get the arrest record expunged with a court order, but that doesn't necessarily correct it in every database of every company supplying background checks.
  • chrisipedia, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Why would she be carrying flour in condoms anyway? It must have been some type of experiment.
  • starrd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I'm guessing that the condoms had some coating inside that messed up the tests. Basically, if you simply taste flour, you should be able to tell it's not a drug...Anyone who has tasted coke would know the difference, and I'd expect a DEA type cop to know the difference. So, yeah, carrying something like that in your luggage is absolutely stupid, but I admit to being surprised that the cop didn't do the taste test...maybe he was too freaked out that the stuff was in condoms instead of baggies. Ass.
    • Darrelc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah and it's a good idea for cops to go round tasting things that could be drugs.
  • recklessftw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How did taking white powder on a plane in condoms NOT seem like a bad idea to her....
  • grinch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This doesn't surprise me at all - because it happened in Philadelphia.

    It does not surprise me at all that those incompetent fools at the Philadelphia Airport did not know how to properly perform the field test. I bet they just said it contained something because they assumed it would and just wanted to see her thrown in jail because she was being "difficult" (since she was innocent).

    The TSA security folks at the Philadelphia Airport in particular are a bunch of ignorant assholes. They act like they are "big brother" and threaten to throw you in jail for anything. My wife almost got arrested there a few years ago because she wanted them to show her proof that they could seize something in my carry-on bag and they said they did not need proof and could take anything they wanted. My wife was furious and all they said was "Maam, if you say anything else we are going to have you arrested". They should have had a sign hanging that says, "Welcome to Ashcroft Country".

    At the time, we were coming off an international flight and going through security again for our connecting flight. I was stationed overseas (defending America's ability to enforce the Patriot Act on its citizens) and we flew back a few times a year. After that we routed all of our flights back to the US through Charlotte, and we never had a problem with security again.
  • residentweevil, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1How can an article that purportedly bemoans racism use a phrase like "She lost significant face with this event." and still be taken seriously?
  • hrothgarson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This incident will finally send a strong message to Americans that using irregular containers to transport small amounts of anything that could vaguely resemble a controlled substance could lead to serious jail time.
  • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I flew to Vancouver to visit friends and DJ at a little rave a couple of summers ago. I brought my USB mixer console in my carry-on to avoid damage. Oops.

    After sending my bag through the x-ray machine, security searched my carry-on and flipped through my sweatshirts, every page of every book and magazine, and looked at the bottle cap seals on each bottle of water to see if they'd been opened. The security attendant, who was thorough but friendly, asked me about the DJ mixer and what it does. He pushed every button, flipped around the crossfader, and turned every knob (UGH!!!) as if to defuse a bomb or something. He then took out an oversized cotton swab and ran it along the top and sides of the box before placing the swab in a plastic ziploc. I asked him what he was testing for and he said "chemicals". He then packed everything neatly back in my bag and dismissed me. The whole ordeal took about 3 minutes.

    Luckily they never found those 10 precious paper tabs in my Aspirin bottle! WHEW!!!
    • nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Inside conspiracy to force you to recalibrate your console and inconvenience you so an underpaid, under-appreciated security attendant could have his wee little power trip.
  • discochew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If a friend snuck the condom into her bag, thats just stupid. And if she packed it, its equally as stupid. I mean, white powder in a condom is an immediate red flag
    • nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not to an innocent, naïve girl. I grew up in a Mormon family, but am not religious myself, and let me tell you that some people are still very innocent, even today.
    • hmmdar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yes it is an immediate red flag, and it dang should be, BUT, the magic test results coming back of being full of three different drugs is the big issue here when it was only flour.
  • TVChick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What kind of idiot carries a white powder (other than drugs) in a condom on a plane?! Can we arrest people for stupidity?
    • drmobutu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3She WAS arrested for stupidity - it is a really dumb idea to bring any white powdery substance in your luggage while flying, post-911.

      Stupidity itself is not a crime, in this case.

      That being said, however, I believe she deserved the settlement, too.

      I bet that what happened was : The authorities tested the "drugs", and disregarded the "negative" result, figuring it was a mistake, and that they had better err on the side of caution. I hope the officer who handled the arrest were disciplined, too.
    • nikkesen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@TVChick

      If we did, there would be no Americans left to run the USA, except for a few guards and the parentless children running amok on the streets.
  • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Field tests are complete *****.

    A good friend of mine was jailed when when a cop performed a field test on some Aspirin in his car. While he was performing the test another officer even pointed out that the test did not look conclusive. The arresting officer ignored this, attempted to obtain a confession and filed felony heroin possession charges against him necessitating several thousand dollars bail.

    Thankfully, the case was rightfully dismissed before making it to court based on lab test results but it still necessitated hiring a lawyer, paying a steep bail and causing a hell of a lot of stress for my friend.

    It's complete *****. Street cops should not be playing amateur chemist and with the lives of citizens at stake.
  • RearNakedChoke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Um, aren't you supposed to SWALLOW those condoms? Having cocaine filled condoms just sitting in your luggage is NOT a credible signal that you're transporting drugs. If you were trying to smuggle, you'd swallow them, not just leave them sitting in your luggage - Dumb police and dumb diggers like Achalemoipas, TVChick, etc who think the same.
  • ChaperonNoir, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"A College Student Spent 3 Weeks in Jail After a Field Test Said She Was Carrying Drugs. She Filed a Lawsuit."

    WhAtS Teh DeAL WitH all tEh CaPs?
  • mbthompson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Police: "Who gave you these drug-looking filled condoms?"
    Girl: "Uh he look like a man..."
  • GrendelT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2WHO THE HELL IS "Oh"?!???
    At the end of the story, they just assume you know this "Oh" character...
  • starguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9There was never any field test. Police LIE by default. I've seen it happen so many times, in so many different situations, that it has to be a standard operating procedure. The method is, this "field test" that never was done, would be spoken in during any trial, and you get a direct one way ticket into prison, because "police never lie"... on the contrary, they lie more than they tell the truth... they lie by default, to paint someone as a potential criminal. It assists the DA immensely, and its what they are all about... turning people into bad guys and putting bad guys away.

    In fact, in many drug cases like this, there was never any drugs in the first place. The cops produce or plant the drugs, or don't even have to do that. In court they produce a baggie of drugs, and say boom, we're putting this into evidence, this is what we found... and you've never seen whatever that is in your life. What are you going to say? You're going to be stunned. You're going to say I have no idea where that came from, but its not mine. The jury is going to look at you like a liar, and rubber stamp you through. Why? Because there's the evidence right there! Those are clearly drugs, all the tests prove it. And they've been fed that pablum of Cops all their life, and the police never mess with anybody but those they are sure are the bad guys. Uh, totally wrong.

    This is the same with hair or other type DNA evidence found at crime scenes. Police say they've found hairs or fiber or semen or blood, whatever at a crime scene, and tell the "mark" they can clear his name through a DNA test, if he/she would simply provide a sample of their hair, shirt, blood, etc. Of course they agree, because they are scared ***** because they've never been in trouble in their life and they didn't do it. The cops take whatever sample they provide, divide it into two, and send both off to some "independent" lab to be tested to see if they match. Of course when the results come back, they match, because both were taken from the "mark's" sample. There never was any original sample from the crime scene, and if there was for show, it was simply discarded later. Its so unbelievable criminal and insidious, and yet it happens all the time. All for those big bucks of $340,000 per year in prison money per inmate which all goes to pay salaries. Its ungodly obscene. And Juries rubberstamp it right on through. Because most of them are so unbelievablly clueless that the police are NOT the good guys and could be anything less than that. Juries are full of incrediblly smart but horrendously naive people. Our only sollution is to get these videos out of police misconduct and hope eventually it gets through more than 50% of people's head, that they are NOT living on the set of the Andy Griffin show.

    It sickens me when I read a few naive posters who have never had any experience with the police whatsoever, automatically stand up and take the side of the police because they see the slanted propaganda of Hollywood and shows like Cops.
    • starguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Correction, $34,000 a year, added one too many zeros. Actually the range varies, from about $30,000 a year upwards to about $45,000, depending on if any image is maximum security or not. I just used a rough average. At any rate, it adds up to obsene amounds. Put someone away for 10 years for some petty street level possesion of drugs, that's a third of a million dollars pumped into the prison complex system per person.
    • cyn0sure, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Mars called. They want to know when you are coming home.
  • resipsa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Finally, someone who gets it. That's exactly it: the packaging and the powder were sufficient, by themselves, to create probable cause to arrest the young lady. That's the standard we're looking at here, the one insured to us by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Probable cause is not that huge a hurdle, and in the face of conflicting field tests, the way it looked was enough to arrest and charge.

    It follows, then, that if there's probable cause to arrest and charge, the accused in a case of this potential magnitude should be held on bail. That's what happened here. At her arraignment, a bail was set to ensure her return to court. If she had paid it, she'd be out (and she may not have had to pay the whole $500K, that could have been with a bond, leaving her to pay only approx. $50K).

    Essentially, it sucks to be her, but it sounds like the police and the DA's office acted appropriately and, more importantly, within the bounds of the Constitution.
    • resipsa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sorry, this should be in reply to Hates's comment above. Additionally, I'd like to point out that the original search by the TSA probably should be illegal, but so long as it isn't, the rest of the proceedings here were fine too.
  • villium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@ all those asking who carries flour in condoms on a plane, the answer is none of your ***** business. As it is none of the police's business. This is the type of ***** that springs up from unwarranted searches. Add this to the list of things that make up incompetent policy from the TSA.
  • 5xSTUN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The motivation for cops to falsify evidence in these things is clear... they get to pad their number of arrests, which offsets the number of actual reported crimes.
  • xkrwlng, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0i hope she sues/already has sued them BAD
  • kakifry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1and why exactly would she carry flour in condoms? maybe to rip people off by selling it to them?
    • hmmdar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1does anyone bother to read the post anymore?
  • secondimpact, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Same thing kind of happened to this girl I knew that lived in my sorority house..
    Except it was smarties candy...and it was during the Anthrax scare.

    What a mad world..
  • rspavone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0What a dumb bitch. She deserves it. Why would she carry HOME from school condoms filled with flour? What was she going to do then? Take a few more finals? DUMB!
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