The PO

11

''Great start,'' she smiled which caused him to chuckle.

''I flew to back to LA, I knew something was up as soon as I passed the passport check, my gut was telling me I got snitched out, how else would they know? Why else would they be expecting me? I accidentally walked the wrong way, and I noticed a security guard following me. I thought "ahh shit, here we go." While I was waiting for my luggage, I saw police officers with K-9 units standing by for "random drug checks." I went to the bathroom and ditched the edibles I had on me, in my backpack, went back to the carousel and patiently waited for my luggage. My name was on it, there was nothing I could do at this point but hope for the best. There were two drug-sniffing dogs — don't be fooled by what you see on youtube — the dogs that were there weren't blonde and cute. I had two grey dogs trying to catch me flying dirty.'' He chuckled at the last part thinking back to the time it happened.

''Mmm-'' Sabrina nodded as she wrote down whatever he was saying.

''After what seemed like an eternity, my luggage finally came down the chute. Not just one dog, but both dogs sniffed at my luggage and walked right past it. As a matter-of-fact, they picked up 5 other pieces of luggage, meaning 5 other people had things they weren't supposed to have. As I picked up my bags and made my way over to customs, a group of officers stood in my path with one of the dogs. He sniffed at my luggage (again) and still made no gestures, no tail wag, nothing. I stood at the end of the customs line. Imagine my surprise when I was selected for a "random security check." At first, there was only a customs officer, but once they opened my luggage about 8 M.J.I.B. (Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau) agents came out of nowhere.''

''How did you feel?'' Sabrina asked.

''I was so baffled and confused. However I still had my wardrobe in LA, so I had brought minimal clothes with me. Most of the contents of my luggage were edibles, real snacks, vitamins, and gifts for the family. These clowns had no idea what they were doing. They ran tests on everything on the spot. Their tests were terrible: the edibles tested as positive for Ketamine, which they did not contain. They were Mickey Mouse cops — their K-9's couldn't even smell the edibles. They were befuddled. The feds started recording the whole situation and when the test came back positive, they made me take a picture with the positive test result. I had my hoodie up over my head, and they pulled it down. I put it up again, and they pulled it down again. I did it one more time just to annoy them. Almost everything is false and some things are outright lies. It was a big deal when I was caught. I made every news channel and 2 out of 4 newspapers. My friends and family tell me it was repeated for a few days too. It was propaganda to make the police look like they're doing their jobs,'' he said, annoyance evident in his voice.

''So what happened with the M.J.I.B detective and the officials? Were they involved?'' Sabrina read the question up.

''Yessir. I was taken to the Police Department at the airport to be questioned by the M.J.I.B. detectives and customs officials. I denied any wrongdoing and asked to speak to my family and a lawyer. I was denied both. My luggage was searched again at the Police station at the airport and I was cavity searched. The M.J.I.B. confiscated my Macbook, my iPhone, my clothes, my sneakers, and my luggage. I'll be getting my iPhone and MAc back, but the clothes, sneakers, and luggage will not be returned to me.'' He told her, silence filled the room as Sabrina quickly wrote down what she remembered and found it important to add to his files.

''When were you taken into custody?''

''I was taken into custody on January 22nd, 2016 at 3:00 am on suspicion of drug smuggling and drug trafficking charges. We were to continue the interrogation the next day at the M.J.I.B. headquarters. They took me to M.J.I.B. headquarters to spend the night. By the time I got to a cell it was 3:30 am and I was put in a cell with no bed, no blanket, and no pillows. They kept the lights on so that I wouldn't be able to sleep. I was awakened at 6:00 am for no reason, and at 11:30 am I had my photograph and fingerprints taken. I was then interrogated at 4:00 pm. If you're keeping track, that's about 28 hours of no sleep (including the flight). During the interrogation, I denied any wrongdoing and continued asking for a lawyer or a translator. I was denied both. I asked to speak to my family and the police told me to shut up. At this point, I confessed to smuggling but nothing else. I confessed to smuggling because I was confident I could beat the other charges (sales, distribution, etc) but no matter what it was going to be smuggling. They caught me red-handed, they caught my hand in the cookie jar. I'll accept the consequences for my actions, I'm not going to cry over a little time. But, I was going to fight the other charges tooth and nail. I also knew that in Taiwan, the judges are a lot more lenient if there is a confession. After I confessed The Captain (the old man in the news articles) came in and looked at the transcripts. He wasn't satisfied, and I watched him change my answers in front of me. I started complaining and he told me to shut up-''