Vacations

Next time you see someone struggling to fit their bags in the overhead compartment, you might want to take a few steps back — or your vacation could be in for an abrupt halt.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Lisette Lee, a self-proclaimed California socialite, as her private plane touched down at an Ohio airport. The crime? Lee was caught carrying 506 pounds of marijuana in 13 suitcases.

Lee told DEA agents that she was a recording artist and model who was bringing equipment to her boyfriend’s horse farm in Ohio. When asked what her boyfriend’s last name was, Lee was unable to come up with a response, and agents asked her to crack open her baggage, which contained 23 individually wrapped bales of the illegal narcotic.

In a hasty confession, Lee claimed her “friend” paid her $60,000 to take trips from her home in California to Columbus, OH. All she was required to do was carry 12-14 suitcases per trip and deliver them to a hotel room. After vacationing in the Columbus area for a few days, Lee returned to the room and picked up another set of suitcases for her trip back to California.

Two bodyguards and an assistant traveling with Lee were not charged, but the “socialite” faces up to 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million.

But it might be better than the alternative. Can you imagine the baggage fees for 13 fully loaded packed suitcases per trip? That must add up to more than $2 million, right?

Tags: Drug arrest, Marijuana, Vacations