A recent holiday excursion to sunny Florida soon turned into a nightmare when police stopped and searched the hire car that we were driving due to a broken tail light.
My girlfriend and I had decided to take a last minute package holiday to Florida. We’d found a great fly-drive deal that gave us 7 nights to enjoy the gulf coast beaches and theme parks of Orlando during late spring, before the summer rush.
We flew from Gatwick to Orlando airport and went straight to the car hire desk to collect the keys to our car. We’d pre-arranged the car that we wanted and had booked the first two nights in the Clarion Hotel which is just across the road from the Wet’n'Wild theme park, close to international drive. Our plan was to move on to another hotel if we felt like it, but stay put if we were happy with the hotel and what was available on our doorstep.
We spent our first night recuperating from our journey making us ready for a day spent sight-seeing and shopping. We ended an excellent day with a fantastic meal at a seafood restaurant that provided some excellent entertainment along with great service. It was on the drive back to our hotel that things took a turn for the worse.
It was when we got on the highway that a police car came up behind us and indicated for us to pull over. The police officer told me that one of my tail lights wasn’t working and asked me to step out to take a look. I explained that it was a rental car and that we had just arrived in the country only yesterday. The friendly and helpful police officer then asked me to open the boot so that he could take a look at the tail lamp.
He shone his torch into the boot and immediately we could see traces of what looked like a white powder all over the trunk lining. The police officer’s helpful manner changed immediately as he returned to his car where he spent some time communicating on his radio. Within only a few minutes a second police car arrived with two officers inside. They told us that we had to accompany them to the police station to answer some questions.
At the police station it became clear that the substance found in the trunk was cocaine and that the police suspected that we were drug dealers. My girlfriend became quite distraught by the whole experience. It took no less than nine hours before they could verify who we were and that we were genuinely there on holiday.
Luckily there were still people working at the car hire office, even at that late hour, and they were able to provide police with details of the person who had hired the car prior to us. I’ve no idea if the police ever managed to catch up with the individual responsible for carrying drugs in the boot of the car.
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Travel tip: We saved a fortune on airport parking by booking online, in advance. Also, make certain that your travel insurance policy covers you for legal expenses abroad.