Unluckiest Woman Had To Pay Nearly ₹ 33,000 For One Apple During Customs Checking

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The economy is no longer what it once was. We’ve all heard our parents reminisce about those glory days when you could basically buy the Taj Mahal with a hundred bucks. And as someone desperately trying to be an adult, I can vouch for the fact that today, buying even basic groceries is something that reminds us of the sad state of our bank balance.

But even I would’ve never in a million years dreamt that an apple could someday cost almost ₹ 35K. And no, I’m not talking about the phone.

Ridiculously enough, that is exactly what happened to Crystal Tadlock as she was travelling from Paris, France to Minneapolis, USA. She was fined approximately ₹ 33,000 by US Customs and Border Patrol for an apple she had carried with her.

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According to Fox News, Crystal received the apple toward the end of her flight from Paris when flight attendants passed out apples in plastic bags as a snack. As she wasn’t hungry at the time, she had put the fruit in her carry-on to save for the second leg of her trip.

Upon arrival in the U.S., while going through Customs, Crytal’s bag was chosen at random for searching. She says a customs official pulled out the apple in the plastic bag with Delta’s logo on it.

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Near the very end of my Delta flight from Paris, I received an apple 🍎 from my flight attendant. The apple was in a sealed bag with napkin & silverware, even though no one uses a fork to eat an apple. I wasn’t hungry so I jammed the apple in my carry on as we exited the plane. I waited for a while in the customs line and instead of putting my bag on the conveyor belt to X-ray it, they were randomly selecting bags to search. Mine was selected. They went through and saw the Delta apple. I told them I forgot about it since I didn’t purchase it and had obviously received it from Delta airline. “Well, your trip is going to get a lot more expensive” said the customs guy. $500 dollars more expensive. Apparently throwing the apple out wasn’t an option. He wanted me to pay the money right then & I said no way. My other option is court, which would be in Minnesota. Shame on Delta for handing out fruit if they know minutes later would be a violation of US customs. I received an email saying my global pre check is revoked & now every time I fly, I'm going to be searched. This is all so disappointing. @delta 🍎 #deltaforbiddenfruit 🍎 #delta #deltaairlines #customs #uscustoms #borderprotection #deptofhomelandsecurity #security #tsa #checkpoint #globalentry #precheck #internationalflight #international #travel #travelers #deptofagriculture #agriculture

A post shared by Crystal (@thatvegancheesehead) on

Despite her attempts to explain how she had come in possession of the undeclared apple, the customs official allegedly told her no and fined her $500 (approx. ₹33,000) for carrying the undeclared fruit.

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Speaking of the incident, Crystal says:

“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.”

In addition to the fine, her Global Entry Status, which allows pre-approved, low-risk travellers to have expedited clearance into the U.S., has also been revoked. And to add insult to injury, she will be searched every time she takes a flight from now on.

The plastic bag in which she was handed the fruit declares ‘enjoy’ in bold letters. The irony was not lost on Crystal who posted about her disappointment on Twitter:

Twitterati agreed with Crystal on the incident, with many raising eyebrows at the severity of punishment for what’s an honest mistake at max.

1. Yikes!

2. Nope, it doesn’t.

3. One. Lousy. Apple.

This has honestly got to be the costliest apple ever to grow on earth. I hope it at least tasted good, for all it’s worth. Talk about badhti hui mehangai!

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