Traveller's $3,000 mistake at airport security
A grandmother from New Zealand has copped a whopping $3,000 fine after failing to declare an airport sandwich to border control officers.
June Armstrong, 77, was travelling from her native Christchurch to Brisbane to housesit for a friend, and treated herself to a muffin and a sandwich ahead of her 4am flight.
Ms Armstrong ate her muffin before boarding the plane, and stashed the sandwich in her carry-on luggage to eat later on the flight.
However, the grandmother fell asleep on the plane and the sandwich was left uneaten.
When she woke up from her nap, she filled out the declaration form to enter Australia, as she had prescription medication, but completely forgot about the sandwich.
When she arrived at the security gates at Brisbane Airport and her bags were checked, she was met with an unfortunate welcome to Australia as she was slapped with the fine.
“I was just sobbing and said “$NZ3300 for a little sandwich?” Ms Armstrong told the NZ Herald.
She said asked the official who found the sandwich if they could throw it away for her, but after they walked away and came back, they allegedly just said, “Twelve points, $3300”.
Ms Armstrong first thought they were joking, but when she realised they were serious, she broke down in tears as staffers "strongly advised" her to appeal the fine within 28 days.
She went through with the appeal to avoid forking out the four-figure sum, but to no avail and eventually ended up coughing up the hefty fine.
“My husband kept saying, 'Just pay it'. I said, 'It’s our pension, we can’t afford this’,” Ms Armstrong said, adding that they had about $30,000 in savings as well as their pensions.
Ms Armstrong sent an email asking why she was fined, considering it was her first infringement, and why the cost was so high, especially considering the sandwich was untouched and sealed.
She also outlined the impact the fine was having on her mental health, but she allegedly never received a response.
Six months on from sandwich-gate, she has accepted she won’t be getting her money back and has since spoken out to warn fellow passengers not to make the same mistake.
“Everybody I show the fine to is dumbfounded, they just can’t believe it,” Ms Armstrong told the NZ Herald.
Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said Ms Armstrong needed an import permit to bring the chicken sandwich into the county, adding it could have been a much higher penalty, as fines can be as much as $6260.
“Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks,” a departmental spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Uncanned meats, including vacuum-sealed items, are not allowed into Australia unless accompanied by an import permit."
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