False Positive Drug Test On Shampoo Bottle Landed American In Jail At Canadian Airport

Photo: Yu Ruidong/China News Service (Getty Images)

Passing through airport security and customs is just considered an inconvenience for most passengers. Though, it is easy to forget while waiting in line that you could end up in jail when you reach the end. An American traveling home from Brazil via Toronto Pearson Airport found this out the hard way when he was arrested after a false positive on a drug test.

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In April, Yeremy Cuevas Tolentino was passing through Toronto Pearson while flying home to Boston from São Paulo, Brazil, after a vacation. CTV News Toronto reported that the 22-year-old is an employee with Cape Air, a small carrier based in Cape Cod, and often travels on unusual routes to arrive at his destination sooner. Though, Cuevas Tolentino never made it to his connecting flight to Boston.

Cuevas Tolentino was pulled aside at the U.S. customs preclearance line for additional questioning. He was worried about the fruit he had brought along with him, but agents were more concerned about the number of flights he had initially booked out of Brazil. They believed the 22-year-old was trafficking drugs and handed him over to Canadian authorities.

According to the Washington Post, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers tested his luggage for drugs, specifically three shampoo bottles. The first swab gave a faint result on the Narcotics Identification Kit, but a second test showed a more definite positive result. Cuevas Tolentino was arrested and transfered to Maplehurst Correctional Complex the next day.

Additional testing by Health Canada determined that the shampoo bottles contained no drugs, but this was a week after Cuevas Tolentino was arrested. He spent a week in jail, fearing that he could spend at least the next 15 years there. His mother also took out a $15,000 loan to hire a lawyer, at the recommendation of a public defender, and travel to Toronto. Cuevas Tolentino now plans to sue the Canada Border Services Agency for the inaccurate drug testing that sent him to Maplehurst.