On the flight from Delhi to Washington D.C., I spent a good two hours staring at the customs form that I was required to fill out. I had completed every section of the form, except for one. I just wasn’t quite sure if mentioning Pakistan and Afghanistan in the box that asked me to list the countries I had visited was such a good idea. As I wrote down the other countries I’d been to on this trip – Australia, Singapore, Thailand and India – I seriously wondered if I could get away with not listing the other two. (Of course, I wasn’t about to risk it and so I wrote them all down in the end.)
Several hours later, on the ground in Washington D.C., I approached the Immigration Counter and handed over my form. The Immigration Officer swiped my passport, glanced at his computer screen and almost immediately stamped me back into the country. But just before I started to walk away he asked, “So you went to Afghanistan and Pakistan. How was it?” The only reply that I could muster up was a quiet, “Very interesting.”
He then called the next person in line and I turned away, relieved beyond belief at how well that had gone. Of course, that relief lasted a mere six seconds, right until the moment when a Customs Officer approached and asked me to step over to one of the inspection tables.
The following hour and a half of my life is a period of time that I will never forget and truthfully, never really want to endure ever again.
MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A ONE-SIDED MIRROR
After another quick swipe of my passport and after reading the words “Pakistan and Afghanistan” on my form, the young Customs Officer immediately ‘invited’ both myself and my trusty backpack into a small interrogation room for a chat.
Once inside the room, the Officer began to inspect the contents of my backpack. First, he opened the front pocket, and immediately became suspicious of a collection of books that I had purchased in a bookstore in Delhi. There were five books packaged together, each containing the sayings and lessons of a different spiritual figure who had influenced India, including Buddha, Vivekananda, Nanak Dev, Gandhi and yes, the Prophet Mohammed.
Of course, the Customs Officer ignored the other four books and while holding up the book of quotes from the Prophet, proceeded to repeatedly scream “Do you believe in the words of the Prophet Mohammed?” over and over again while standing one foot away from my face.
Every time I tried to mention the other books, and the one time I tried to ask why that question was even relevant, I was immediately cut off and told to be quiet. So in the end, the only reply I gave to his question was, “What?”
THE INSPECTION CONTINUES…
The next problem began when the Officer picked up one of my pairs of pants and a shiny, unused bullet fell out of the front pocket. And while I will admit that the appearance of a bullet is always somewhat suspicious, I honestly felt that the additional screaming that was thrown my way as a result of this discovery was more than uncalled for. Without asking any questions at all, the Officer simply acted as if he had found a piece of evidence that undeniably linked me to terrorism.
As a side note, the bullet was given to me as a gift by a child who had taken me on a tour of his neighborhood on the outskirts of Kabul. I had been walking around on my own when he suddenly came out of nowhere, grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking up a hill that turned out to be littered with land mines. This kid had practically no possessions to his name, yet he wanted to give me a gift for spending some time with him. And so he gave me a bullet that he had found and had always kept with him for good luck.
After the bullet, came the burqa. I had purchased a deep blue burqa one day in Kabul in order to show my friends and family the reality of what it’s like to wear one of these things. As the Customs Officer pulled it out of my backpack, he demanded an explanation and even suggested that I had used the burqa in order to move undetected throughout the tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As his suspicion grew, so did my confusion at the manner in which this interrogation was taking place.
THE BOX OF CANDY
Up until this point, I had really hoped that the Officer would not look in the side pocket of my backpack. But when he began to unzip the zipper, I had no choice but to take a deep breath and prepare for his reaction.
In that pocket was a box of candy, although this was no ordinary box of M&Ms. It was a box of “Osama bin Laden Kulfa Balls” a popular hard candy that can be found throughout the tribal areas of Pakistan. And on the front of the box, one finds an image of Osama himself alongside a tank, missiles and fighter jets. Naturally, the Customs Officer wasn’t too thrilled with me having this item in my possession and he again made the grand assumption that this box of candy linked me to terrorism.
“I could arrest you right now! Do you want me to arrest you?“, he started to shout repeatedly.
Eventually, I just gave up trying to offer my explanations and stopped answering his questions altogether.
In reality, I have no idea why I bought that box of candy, other than it grabbed my attention, I thought it was interesting and I wanted to take one home. It really was that simple.
A QUICK FLIP THROUGH MY JOURNAL
The next item to be closely inspected turned out to be my travel journal, the 300 pages of which were full of descriptions about the places and people I had met along the way. I wasn’t worried about him reading my journal at all as it certainly didn’t contain anything that this Officer could interpret as suspicious.
So I thought…
Here’s a tip. No matter what the reason, don’t ever write “You can get rid of your US citizenship by going to an Embassy and telling them that you don’t want to be a citizen any more” in your travel journal!
The Officer had opened my journal up to a completely random page and the line above is exactly what he found written. It was perhaps the only line in the entire book that could possibly have made my current situation any worse. Lucky me.
Before I continue, let me be clear. I was in no way at all implying that I was interested in getting rid of my US citizenship. Not even close! I had simply jotted down something I had read in an online article about the rules of citizenship in different countries. Unfortunately, I wrote down that one line and nothing else as I was in a rush that day and had to leave the internet cafe to catch a bus. I meant to go back and write more about the article I had read, but I never did.
And so there it was, alone on a random page of my journal, just begging the Customs Officer to get fired up once again. I certainly wasn’t surprised when he proceeded to read the line out loud a few times, get right in my face and scream, “Tell me now! Tell me you don’t want your US Citizenship and I’ll take it away from you. Right now!”
After trying my hardest to convince him that I did not want to lose my citizenship, the Officer suddenly left the room, returning a few minutes later with his Supervisor. Then, both men spent the following hour asking me a barrage of rapid-fire questions that included, “What do your parents do for a living?”, “Is that your natural hair color?”, “How did you obtain your visas?” and “Were the people of Pakistan friendly?”
“WERE THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN FRIENDLY?”
Really?, I thought. You’re really asking me that question?
Well, I could have just said “No, they were all mean and nasty to me” but there was no way I was about to do that to the wonderful people I had met during my travels. The truth is, almost everyone I met showed nothing but remarkable hospitality, kindness and generosity at all times. Almost every day during my visit, dozens of Pakistanis would politely approach me, shake my hand and inform me that they are not terrorists and that they do not support Osama bin Laden. They would then ask me to please return to America and tell everyone I know that Pakistanis just want to live in peace like everyone else. When I tried to explain this to the Officers, they once again ignored me, refusing to believe that there could possibly be even one decent person in that region of the world.
At one point, frustrated by the lack of training/knowledge of the people put in charge of protecting the US borders, I literally pulled out my guidebook and gave them a lesson in geography and in a sense, in reality as well. I showed them excerpts of the guidebook that spoke of friendly locals, must-see highlights and a generally safe environment for travelers. I also attempted to explain that my goal in traveling to this region was to educate myself, not to try and gain admission into a terrorist training camp.
Eventually, in a calm voice, the supervisor asked me one last time whether or not I “believed in the words of the Prophet Mohammed.” (It was as if all Customs Officers had memorized that exact same line.) When I told him that I’m not a very religious person at all, he stood up and much to my surprise, informed me that I was now free to go.
THE AFTERMATH
Through a friend of the family who used to work for the FBI, I later learned that as soon as I had left the Customs interrogation room, the local FBI office in Savannah, Georgia (where I was headed to visit my mom) had been notified of my arrival. As a result, the FBI then tapped the home phone at my mom’s house.
Further, for two years, I was given a private pat down and screening every time I went through security at a US airport. And whenever I returned from overseas, I was forced to go through a 30-minute, overly thorough inspection that involved dozens of questions, a ‘test’ about my previous travels and even a complete inspection of all my computer files.
The good news is that one day, it all stopped. Just like that I had apparently been removed from the list as a potential threat and I’ve never been inspected since.
However, I now realize that I should be enjoying these hassle-free Immigration & Customs experiences while I can, because I have a feeling that after this upcoming trip to the Middle East, I’m going to find myself right back in that interrogation room.
Do you have any Customs or Immigration stories to share?
Back in 1999, I left home for a 3 month trip to Asia that has still yet to end.
It is truly amazing who is in charge of our boarders, out of all my many foreign travels the U.S is by far the most time consuming to get back into. You’ve got a great tale and told it well. Thanks
Makes me sad that b/c of a small group of radical individuals, America and the world now has a stereotype for an entire race.
Thank you for this great article and telling the world that no matter where you are from, there still is peace, love, family, and kindness.
Hi Earl,
Thank you for an interesting and well written post. I’m pretty sure what i’m going to write now will outrage a few people but it seems people on both ends are blowing things way out of proportion. While I agree the U.S. is in a state of paranoia regarding Muslim/terrorist countries and I certainly agree that it might be “frightening” to sit in an interrogation room for a couple hours after visiting one of these countries, I truly believe this necessary. while I believe that the majority of people in Pakistan/ Afghanistan etc are peace loving, friendly people, the truth is that out of the few terrorist attacks that occur around the world, the majority of these attacks are because of people from Muslim countries. Now I am NOT saying Muslims are terrorist’s, just that terror attacks are usually carried out BY Muslim extremist’s. I live in Israel, a country that defends itself non-stop from these attacks, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We have a civilian armed guard at every door of every shopping mall in the country. While this is a nuisance most of the time, it is a Necessity. It is Necessary because we know what could happen and has happened if we dont put a guard on watch. While being detained and interrogated in an airport after visiting a said country is not fun in the least, think how many REAL terrorist’s HAVE been caught thanks to this. Airport security has no way of reading minds, and most likely if asked directly once, a real terrorist will never admit he is one, so I know it sucks big time but this is the world we live in, and I would appreciate it if everybody would stop crying at a measly few hours of being interrogated. I truly believe that anybody affected by 9/11 or any other terrorist attack would not complain at all and would actually be rather happy that there are people out there working behind closed doors looking out for our safety. I think this post is way too long now
so I’ll stop here but I have a bunch more I could say regarding this.
Having gone through a ‘talk’ with these guys before (although not as thorough) I feel your pain.
You have to admit though that there was no way they were going to let you through without a discussion. You’d been to a couple of countries they don’t really like. You had a bullet. You had Osama Bin Laden candy. And a burka. This was like their dream come true traveler. You know the ones they stay up at night thinking about. Reminds me of the time when I was coming back from Mexico while I was in high school. My spanish teacher a buddy and I had spent three weeks driving through the country. When we got to the border check point it was then that I realized the ‘doper’ magazines my buddy was carrying probably weren’t the best idea. As far as I knew we were clean-I didn’t do drugs, was pretty sure the teacher didn’t but wasn’t a 100% sure of my buddy Bobo. The border agents spent over an hour tearing into our luggage and my teacher’s VW Rabbit (this is 1978). They didn’t find a thing. Not even the 20 or so switch blades we were bringing back in to pay for our trip. Talk about being a sweating 17 year old wreck.
This isn’t to say that the agents were justified in their behavior towards you-they weren’t. Just that you kinda had it coming.
Hi Earl. I read your story with interest. I was a teacher in Pakistan during the year it tested its nuclear missiles in about 1995. That was also the year Americans were evacuated from Pakistan. It was after the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and before Clinton’s retaliatory air strikes. While the people I met in Pakistan were gracious and welcoming, I always felt I was being looked at with hatred by the locals. I even bought myself a burka because at every stop light my car would be surrounded by local men who would disrespectfully, blatantly stare at me. This is very non-Islamic, as I’m sure you know. Perhaps it didn’t help that I lived between the Iranian embassy and the Iranian minister’s home but I never felt safe and I’m sure moreso because I am a woman. Anyway, I didn’t evacuate with everyone else since I don’t “do” 5 a.m. which was when the planes were leaving and I stayed there for another four days before I got on commercial planes to come home. When I arrived at the airport, disheveled, exhausted, two screaming cats with me, I handed over my passport and said I’d just been evacuated from Pakistan. I was told “Welcome to America” and sent on my way.
Sadie
That was an excellent article you have written, Earl.
Just beautiful, and I am extremely glad that you have shown the world that Pakistan is not a terrorist country but a country where people are friendly and nice. You have proven yourself to be a class example of how a human being should be
I understand why anything with a picture of Osama Bin Laden would be suspicious, but I think a huge number of Americans would buy that candy, including Islamophobes. It’s just such a funny product. Osama Bin Laden talks about how evil the West is and ungodly in their devotion to material things, yet here is his image on a box of candy. He may not approve of the product, but it certainly undercuts his message.
I also understand why they may be trained to check out anyone who has visited Afghanistan and/or Pakistan more than the average person, but it sounds like they lack common sense. You had a multi-religious set of books, including one about Mohammed and one about Buddha. The Taliban destroyed some important Buddhist statues in their own country.
I’ve heard several horror stories about immigration harassing and even detaining people for no good reason. I’m glad yours has a somewhat happy ending. Good luck in your future travels!
Once i had the sense to forget about a little ziplock bag of white washing powder in the front pocket of my backpack while i was flying into Singapore from Taiwan. Imagine a similar predicament to yours, but from the perspective of a 16 year old boy going to meet his father in Singapore, and being yelled at in a language he doesn’t understand, while armed guards stood outside. A wonderful way to start my visit! (I’m an Australian by the way, so thankfully there was an English speaking staff member that helped explain my situation, but only after a long while of chaotic yelling). Still, your interrogation takes the prize.
Good lord man! That’s actually my chief worry about traveling. I worry less about losing my belongings and my personal safety than random and confusing run ins with the law. It’s funny that the more likely the problem, the less it bothers me.
Glad you (eventually) made it back to “boring citizen” status.
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WOW! The whole history is hillarious!! What a nice welcoming party! ahah
But c’mon Earl… Osama bin Laden Kulfa Balls?!?! that was really pushing the line for the poor poor customs gentleman lol
peace!
Great story, you are a good writer!
I think what I would do in this situation is probably solve it with documentation. I’d want to collect everything I purchased and put them in one bag, with labels as to what they are, date of purchase and why etc. Don’t give them any reason to look at anything and question why it is there. Don’t give them any reason to have to waste time looking for evidence and playing mind games. Keep a detailed printed log of your travels with you. Prepare answers to common questions ahead of time. Their job is to sit there and harass you like an asshole until you say something to give them probable cause to arrest you. The more evidence you can give that you’re a normal person, in theory the faster you should move through the screening…
Thank you for sharing that advice Ron. Those are some solid ideas and I absolutely agree that such preparation would completely alter the situation. That is something I should try for this current trip I’m on…
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if this is how we treat caucasian U.S. citizens returning home, I can’t imagine how we treat foreigners.
this kind of behavior is the ultimate recruiting tool for terrorism. by treating everyone as an enemy, we will lose all of our friends.
shameful and disgusting.
You should never give in to this nonsense. It is the DUTY of every American to stand up for your rights and refuse to answer these unconstitutional questions. Right that are not stood up for will not last.
Here is an example:
http://nomadlaw.com/2010/04/i-am-detained-by-feds-for-not-answering-questions/
and here is why you should never– NEVER– talk to the police, no matter how much you feel like being polite or how innocent you are of anything:
http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2008/07/eight-reasons-even-innocent-shouldnt.html
Not being a citizen of US and not being a follower of the religion of Islam (which I happen to respect like any other religion) I think this guy/ you did everything possible to freak out a customs officer. The reason I say this is you don’t expect every custom official to have traveled the world and be aware of the actual culture. They only know what they have been told along with what they have heard, which is to say that they know nothing (unless each custom official has had a state department course on countries).
For a country that has been deeply scarred by a terrorist act all the officials know of is to look for some tell-tale sign of association. Those tell-tale signs as in your case may be completely bogus but they don’t draw the distinction.
I agree the experience is bad and system doesn’t see the difference.Let me point out that I don’t support this behavior any more than you do but with the current situation I cannot blame them too.
I’ve had my fair share of troubles with the immigration officers as well.
But let’s pause and think for a moment – you could hardly have been more suspicious. Sure logically a terrorist would be pretty dumb to bring Osama candy – then again, how should they know you’re not a dumb terrorist.
Also clearly border guards aren’t exactly rocket scientists – and they get off on a power trip very easily. They ask you “trick” questions someone drills into them in training, and if you give the “trigger” response, then you have a problem.
So the fact that they did take you aside and searched you, and suspected you – that’s IMO OK. If they don’t ask questions of somebody with a bullet and the book of mohammed, who are they going to ask questions? The fact that they screamed and generally made asses of themselves – uncalled for and there should be a way to file a complaint. A very scary experience, and I can totally relate.
On the matter of complaints – I once asked a customs officer if I could file a complaint that they took my Cuban cigars. He said: “Sure, but if you do, we’ll put you on a blacklist, and that will ensure you’ll be thoroughly searched every time you arrive in the USA”.
All in all, there need to be ways to hold customs and borders officers accountable for their behavior. These guards are responsible for a lot of negativity against the USA, someone needs to get them in line.
I would say that there is on very large difference between your experience with Cuban cigars and the authors’ experience: possession of Cuban cigars by an American citizen is illegal, as well as bringing them in to America by anyone. Owning a book of the words of the Prophet Muhammad is not illegal. The bullet may be against airline regulations, but i’m honestly not sure.
It all does add up to a grim picture, but I wish we didn’t have to expect the lowest common denominator of people who are supposed to keep us safe. He definitely hit triggers, but I think we need to reevaluate the triggers, like in last year’s case of a student getting stopped because he had Arabic flashcards (he was a white US citizen college student studying Arabic) and being demanded things like “who did 9/11?!”
it just seems like there’s too much fanatical ignorance in our TSA and border control, and that’s scary.
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I used to work for T.S.A. in Dulles Va. and that being an international arrival airport, we had a LOT of customs officials we had to deal with. Well, one day, I was walking through the customs area with my badge on and they stopped me and asked me why I didn’t have a Customs logo on my badge. I had just started about a week prior and knew nothing about this logo at all. He started grilling me, “where do you work? Why are you in this zone? Why is your badge wrong?” and I finally shouted back at him that I was new and if he had a problem, he could ask my supervisor (who was right through the doors behind me) and finally the other guy with him stated something about T.S.A. not having the proper badges because of some administrative problem. so he just said “have a nice day” in a really shitty tone. So yeah, customs people are real assholes when they want to be. They are overly suspicious people. I liked your story though and sorry you had to go through that. Read up on the law and see what you are allowed to do in those situations.
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One question and I dont think I read this in the post.. did they allow you to keep the bullet and the snacks?
I have Visas from Iran, Syria and Lebanon in my passport and without fail, I get “randomly” selected for extra security checks every time. This time around at immigration the guy openly told me that as long as I had those visas in my passport, I should expect a 2 hour immigration procedure every time I come to the US. I have been lucky though…They were always polite throughout the interrogation sessions. Nice story btw.
Hi Earl,
Great write up! It was very interesting to read and I am glad that you are no longer on the ‘watch list’. I know that the US immigration is quite strict towards people from Asia and the middle east, but to their own citizen? I would never know that going back to your own country can be so difficult.
And you blog certainly reminds me of my trip to Australia, when my friends and I were questioned from ‘what do we want to do here?’ to ‘where did you study in your primary school?’ I mean come on, do you really wanna know?? Anyway, that is not my country so fine, though more respect will be appreciated
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Wow, what a story. It reminds me of the quote I heard one time “Adventures suck when have them”. But great stories after!
I love this story – and as one writer to another, well done! I’m going to post the link on our facebook site, “Worlders – A Tribe of Wanderers.” Most of us grew up outside our “passport country,” and have been traveling all our lives. http://www.facebook.com/pages/WORLDERS-A-TRIBE-OF-WANDERERS/178146473644
This story in unbelievable! Threat of being arrested simply because you had some candy and burka in your bag? That’s so over the top. And the phone wiring thing is every weirder. At least you know where the taxpayers money goes……
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Hi Earl,
What a story, again lol It is certainly good reading material! I ad a similar experience in Venezuela last year, when I was pulled out of a public bus and questioned+ threatened by the army. This is my story- http://www.maitravelsite.com/north-central-south-america/encounter-venezuelan-army-road-travel-venezuela/
Thanks for the comment Federico and I’ll have a look at your story right now….
This makes me so sad for our country. I am so glad you met so many wonderful Pakistanis and were willing to stand up for them. I just cannot believe the ignorance that exists in the US.
Even though I have not had any similar experiences enterering the US as a european, I alway fear it. After at least an hour waiting in line with jetlagged kids the tension build up as you get closer to the counter. At this point I make sure a have blondes in the line front of me. Sad to say, but being blonde as a a foreigner almost always makes my life easier.
Hi Earl,
This is such a great story and so well written! I couldn’t wait to read what they pulled out of your bag next. I’m sure the experience was not fun while it was happening, but it does make a good story, and I’m glad things are back to normal for you at the airport.
I have to thank Aaron’s Worldwide Adventures for highlighting this post in his last Friday Five. I’ve read and enjoyed other posts by you but hadn’t seen this one yet. Now I’m going to have to go and read a lot more of your older stuff. (I want to read more about the boy that gave you the bullet).
BTW, I would have totally bought the Osama candy too. I’m not so sure about the burqa though. How did that work out anyway? Was anyone back home willing to put it on?
Hey David – Thanks so much for the comment and glad to hear that you found this story through Aaron’s post! As for the burqa, nobody really wanted to put it on but it did help show others how restrictive they really are. Few people realize that you can barely see out of them at all and that they literally squeeze so tightly onto the woman’s head. It was definitely an eye-opener!
Earl,
Great post and absolutely appalling treatment you received. I recently had a similar experience. I went to pick up my gf from the Seattle airport. She was flying in from Beijing for the third time on the same Visa. # hours later I find her in tears crying after the interrogation and they are sending her home. The poor girl never hurt a fly in her life yet they used threats of never being able to see me again to coerce her into making false statements. and I thought China was supposed to be the evil government. Needless to say I am moving back over to Beijing and I don’t blame her for never wanting to come here again.
There is absolutely no moral justification for anyone to initiate force against another in any situation. I am deeply ashamed of how representatives of our country treated this visitor.
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The only time I was interrogated was in Singapore, for bringing in Chewing gum. Actually the word the officer used was “smuggled”. lol.
On a serious note, what you went through was just insane. :s
I somehow laughed all the way through this, although the stupidity and aggressiveness of the guy you were trapped in the room with were pretty frightening. I swear only out of the US do these stories come of the ridiculousness of airport security. Maybe I’m wrong, though, and other countries have even more terrible horror stories about airport security. I don’t know of any, but I guess in some countries airport security can also be bad, right? I’m pretty widely traveled in the Middle East and I clearly bore the airport security in Middle Eastern countries to death. I have never been so ignored. They don’t even look at me while I’m passing through the metal detector. It’s great. They realize that some white American chick isn’t a terrorist. Like you, I’m not so sure what the US will think of me the next time I arrive. After my first two trips to the Mid East, though, they didn’t have a problem with me. Here’s hoping they, like Middle Eastern security, will think I’m boring when I re-enter the US the next time. Because I am!
Hey Sabina – Well, the funny thing is that when I just returned after my latest trip to the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq), the immigration officer simply asked me, “How was it over there?”. I replied, “Quite good” and that was it. Not another question was asked and when I showed my customs form to the customs officer (which had the countries listed on it), he let me go without having my bags inspected. Go figure.
I certainly hope you have the same luck when you return as well!
And you’re right, I don’t think I’ve ever heard these kind of stories happening at any other country’s airport security either…
Holy cow, welcome back to the good ole USA. Sorry that you had to endure that. It is so crazy they kept asking you that dumb question. It is not illegal to believe in the words of the Prophet Mohammed.
Hey Ted – It sure was crazy and really caught me off guard when they started barking that question.
Luckily, after my latest visit to the Middle East, they didn’t really ask me anything and let me go without inspecting my possessions!
geeeezus christ, early! thanks so much for sharing that story, it’s insane and a good lesson. i’m glad you got out of it with much issue, i can 100% see how this could have happened to me in the exact same way.
best of luck to you on your future travels!
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Wow, that’s kinda crazy. The worst thing to happen to me was when the customs guy gave me a pat down and grabbed my balls. Walk in the park compared with what you went through…
this story is awesome! i feel jealous to your travel life.
Highly amusing, my favourite recollection of the joys of customs were travelling internally within Malaysia. Whilst in Penang I purchased a Playstation 2 Gun for my son to take back to Kuala Lumpur, no amount of explanation to the customs officers that most guns are not made of cheap plastic, with blocked up ends and PS2 cables hanging from would persuade them to let me take the childs toy onto the plane, as quote ‘I may use it to hold up the plane’
One could take a view that any plane which allows itself to be held up with a commonly recognised PS2 plastic game controller actually deserves everything it has coming to it
Hey Tom – That’s too funny. Although, consider yourself lucky because if you were trying to bring that back into the US or trying to get that on a plane over there, you might have been tackled to the ground and thrown in a cell:)
I’ve lived through the bullet in my pocket. Luckily, I was in Alaska, and a lot of hunters go through that airport, so they gave me a warning and a nice letter a few months later.
thats awful. since when it is a crime to enjoy the world outside of the US? i am embarrassed for our law enforcement.
It is a shame to think that we are fighting for freedom, but our own citizens have to go through such ordeals. We should be “free” to travel wherever we choose as long as we abide by the law of the lands we visit.
Nice story! Came across this from stumpleupon..
I had a bullet keyring, which was clearly just a novelty item, and not a “live bullet” which I had attached to my keys in my bag at the Copenhagen airport. After getting my bags scanned I was called back, and they searched through my bag and found the key ring. After a short questioning I was forced to sign a declaration that I had taken a bullet/firearm into the country, and they removed it from my possession. I was told if I did not do this I would be taken for further questioning, which would have meant missing my flight, so I just signed the paper and angrily walked along!
Airports suck! Although the security is necessary a lot of their procedures are ridiculous, to say the least.
You’ve got a truly amazing tale. Keep telling it.
Dude, you had a BULLET in your pocket after coming back from afghanistan and pakistan. While it is very true that the OVERWHELMING majority of Muslims are good, loving, caring people just like Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or whatever, SOME of those “muslims” use their religion to falsely justify mass murder. Many of those few happen to reside in the countries you visited and came back with a bullet from. Being interrogated sucks, but that’s the kind of thing that just MIGHT keep one of those douches from killing thousands of people. It’s surely over the top the way you were treated, but do you really think anyone should be surprised by it?