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Charges Dropped Against Man Arrested At BWI Traveling With Honey, Mistaken For Liquefied Methamphetamine

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Leon Haughton at BWI airport.

Haughton was traveling from his native country of Jamaica.

"I saw them come and handcuff me and take me away from my suitcase, so I said, 'What's the problem?'"

Haughton was traveling with honey he had bought on the roadside in Jamaica. Officials at the airport told him it was testing positive for meth.

"They said you're charged with meth, I said, 'What is methamphetamine?'"

Officials thought the meth had been liquified and concealed in the three bottles of honey Haughton was traveling with. He was charged and sent to the Anne Arundel County Detention Center for nearly three months.

"My kids were stressed out and my mom and everybody," Haughton said. "They put me through hell. Once I came out, all my insurance collapsed and my credit was destroyed. I lost my job and everything. They just left me a mess."

Weeks later, another set of tests in Georgia revealed there were, in fact, no drugs in the honey, but then a confusing immigration status kept Haughton behind bars.

"When they were ready to release me they said ICE had a hold on me," Haughton said.

Haughton spent a total of 82 days behind bars, but now all charges have been dropped. For the time, Houghton is living at a Days Inn as he desperately tries to regain his financial stability.

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