College Student Busted at LAX with 13 T-Shirts Soaked in Meth

A British college student claims she had no idea that the T-shirts she was carrying through security at LAX were soaked in liquid methamphetamine.

Myah Saakwa-Mante, a 20-year-old from the UK, was on her way to Brisbane, Australia, after a two-day stay in Los Angeles. She was stopped by security just as she was about to reach her gate, when customs agents flagged her pink suitcase for further inspection after an initial screening indicated it might contain contraband.

Inside the suitcase, officers found jeans, shoes and a Louis Vuitton bag, along with a slightly more concerning discovery: a white powder residue loose in the suitcase, visible on the officers’ black gloves. Upon further inspection, they found 13 neatly folded white T-shirts that were soaking wet and – according to an affidavit cited by the LA Times – “caked with a white, powdery substance.”

When confronted, Saakwa-Mante told the agents that she bought the shirts from Target and even produced receipts. She claimed to have no knowledge of how the shirts ended up dripping with the white powdery liquid (officers field-tested the substance and allege it was methamphetamine – “several kilograms” worth, in fact). Man, don’t you hate it when you pack a load of $8 Goodfellow tees in your suitcase and open it up to find them absolutely soaked in a “white, powdery substance”?

Homeland Security Special Agent Omar Yasin noted in the affidavit that the methamphetamine was likely in powder form before being dissolved in a solvent and absorbed into the fabric – the idea being that, when the solvent evaporated, it would leave behind the powdered meth.

Saakwa-Mante was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Her attorney has sought her release before trial, with a hearing set to discuss the matter, but prosecutors have argued that she poses a “serious risk” of fleeing if released.

It’s a case with many questions and bizarre details – the kind of story you’d expect to see in an episode of Breaking Bad, not the bustling terminals of LAX. And hey, who knows, maybe it’ll make it into that long-awaited sequel – if we ever get it.