Airport officials mistook jars of honey for liquid meth.

You catch more flies with honey, and apparently you catch more crooks with it, too. Or at least you think you do!

A Not-So-Sweet Surprise

Leon Haughton of Maryland returned from his trip to Jamaica with several jars of honey. This was a trip he'd been taking every year for the past 10 years. Haughton would visit his mother in Jamaica and then stop by his favorite honey bee farm. He was going to add that honey to his tea when he got home. Innocent enough, right? 

Only, airport officials really bungled this one. Somehow, as Haughton flew into Baltimore Washington International last December, customs officials thought that the jars in his suitcase tested positively for meth, indicating that they contained a liquid form of it. I think we should all take this time to note that Winnie-the-Pooh should never fly on an airplane.

Like Leon Haughton, Winnie-the-Pooh is also a big fan of honey and, apparently, also at risk of serving jail time. Courtesy of imdb.com

Next thing Haughton knew, he was being accused of smuggling drugs. He fainted, he went to the hospital, and then he was locked up in jail for nearly three months while the honey jars were shipped to Georgia to be tested for containing meth. Maryland crime labs can't test honey.

A Sticky Situation

Confused and just wanting to return to his home in Bowie, Leon Haughton waited 82 days for his release. Even though the bottles of honey tested negative for meth after only 20 days of his arrest, his citizenship status allowed authorities to extend his jail time with federal detainment. He feared deportation despite his legal green card status in the United States. Three bail hearings failed to get him released because of complications and gray areas related to how to handle his green card status and risk of deportation.

When the honey tested negative, the charges against Haughton dropped from felony to misdemeanor. But authorities ran another round of tests.

Eventually all charges were dropped, and the federal detainment was lifted. Haughton waited nearly three months to go home in March, but he's been waiting even longer for an apology. Not only did Haughton spend time in jail for a crime he didn't commit; he lost his job due to his arrest (and presumed guilt). Bills began to collect; his credit plummetted. His family and his friends continue to feel the stress. 

"My kids are stressed out, my mom. Everybody was stressed out over everything. It's a lot of stuff I'm going through," Haughton told the Capital Gazette. 

Now that Haughton has been released, he is working on pulling his life back together, and he definitely isn't going to be flying in the foreseeable future. 

As for BWI, the customs officials, the police? Haughton says that he hasn't heard a thing: "Nobody contacted me. Nobody tell me sorry." There's still time for them to reach out, though. Customs and Border Protection officials have declared that they're reviewing the situation.

So if you plan on going on a trip any time soon, I recommend that you don't bring home honey as a souvenir. Instead of bringing back a sweet treat, you might end up with nothing but bitterness.