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A Colorado woman is facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and
Border Patrol 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.

"He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said,
'yeah.' 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,'" said Tadlock to Fox 31.

Tadlock said the innocent mistake could end up costing her
bigger than just the $500 fine – she could also lose her Global
Entry Status, which allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to
have expedited clearance into the U.S.

Tadlock told Fox 31 she’s frustrated with the incident and feels
Delta should not have passed the apples out to customers or
should have at least reminded passengers not to take the fruit
off of the plane. She also thinks Customs could have handled the
situation differently after seeing the fruit was in an airline-
marked bag.

"It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be
treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," said Tadlock to
Fox 31.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website,
“every fruit or vegetable must be declared to a CBP Agriculture
Specialist or CBP Officer and must be presented for inspection.”

A spokesperson for Delta said in a statement to Fox 31, “we
encourage our customers to follow U.S. Customs and Border
Protection protocols."

Tadlock is planning to fight the charge in court.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/04/22/woman-fined-500-for- saving-free-delta-air-lines-snack.html
 

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