12 days in jail - motor oil "mistaken for heroin"

[Darkfire]

"Inside the vehicle was an unmarked jar containing motor oil."

Originally Posted By: Knox
For the most part i agree with what was done. Who caries motor oil in a jar?


The fact that it was "unmarked" is completely meaningless, because it implies that criminals would be too stupid to hide a real drug in a container that represented it was a legit product to be carrying around. That, and it implies that if it were marked, that it would not be searched/examined.

I guess if someone actually wanted to bring heroin across the border, they could flip the logic around used in this case and use soap and water to wash out some labelled motor oil bottles really well, then fill them with heroin--and with the level of intellect of these stooges, I could see them saying to themselves "hmm, just a bottle of motor oil as indicated by the label, go on through ma'am".

 

[KrisZ]

I'm sure a similar thing never happened with TSA, I wonder how many kids and elderly are on the no fly list?

Grandma will have to suck it up.

 

[eljefino]

If I know my motor oil history the 1950's would often have you go to a service station with a mason jar and fill it with bulk oil.

like this one

I often wonder about those field tests for drugs, they always turn blue for positive. (Hey, this matches my uniform!) Is there some intermediate reaction that changes pH to affect a final indicator? What if something unforseen makes that color happen? Then you're in for a long wait while the "real" lab tests your dope... meanwhile they'll bully your for a guilty plea at your arraignment.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Maybe this fiasco is due to the silly PC idea that we have to treat and scrutinize everyone, even little old ladies, the handicapped etc as potential criminals, otherwise it would be "profiling".


Actually, you'd be surprised. We had a bunch of Amish or some similar denomination in Manitoba that were transporting marijuana regularly into the States. No one suspected them, of course. Someone decided to check, and it turned out to be a major, ongoing thing.

As for this lady, I don't know why she'd transport oil in a jar like that. It would raise questions, understandably. I wouldn't try crossing the border with gas line antifreeze in a whiskey bottle. Some things, no matter how innocuous, just aren't a good idea in retrospect.

As for the testing, under Canadian law, the screening test wouldn't be admissible in court. It would certainly be grounds to seize it and send it to a lab for further testing. Positive identification by an accredited lab would be required for court purposes.

 

[AccordV6MN]

Good to know that there is heroin with motor oil based. High in calcium for g-ma along with other metals in place of vitamins. I wonder if it contain omega3. VOA may not ever test this, only common motor oil ingredients.

 

[PandaBear]

When I went to New Zealand on a tour, one old lady had a small zip lock bag of white powder that end up getting her stuck at the custom for 6 hours until the lab confirm that it was just eastern herbal supplement that ease her back pain.

What kind of impotent labs take 12 days to determine that it is just motor oil as the lady said or at least not heroine or other drugs?

 

[spasm3]

Maybe blackstone will add an opiate level to there menu of tests!!

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
What kind of impotent labs take 12 days to determine that it is just motor oil as the lady said or at least not heroine or other drugs?


That's easy. A government run lab that does all the tests to the standards required for court admissibility.

 

[kb01]

This is the exact reason why I no longer throw a few doses of tylenol or ibuprofen into a small ziplock bag when I anticipate doing something that's going to aggravate my back.

 

[Cristobal]

Hearing this story, I strongly think those Canadian border agents were fishing for a bribe, and when there was no bribe, they locked her up ASSUMING that the contents were illegal.

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: Knox
My dad, who is just shy of 60, was locked up not to long ago. Not going to explain why.

My best friend, used to, buy weed from a person in a wheel chair. He only smokes tobacco now.

My brother (deceased), showed me that there are just as many women who use drugs as there are men. One of his "clients" was a 62 year old woman, she bought about $500-800 every two weeks and sold it at a bar, where she worked.

I'd rather not get to far off topic. For the most part i agree with what was done. Who caries motor oil in a jar?


I'm not saying that anyone old, female, disabled or whatever is above drug trafficking or breaking the law.What I'm saying is they are a relatively rare profile. A lot of time is wasted not 'profiling'the statistically more likely suspects in the name of PC and treating everyone as a criminal. Although the real problem here is that they took more than a couple hours to identify the substance regardless of who was bringing through. with limited resources you have to use them efficiently. all the time wasted on this Granny and who knows how many real criminals slipped through.