"Wearing 12 Soaking Wet T-Shirts... What Happened to the Female College Student Caught at the Airport?"

20s British Woman Caught at LA Airport
Clothes Full of Methamphetamine Residue in Bag

A British woman in her 20s was arrested at a U.S. airport while trying to leave the country with 13 T-shirts soaked in drugs. Photo by California court, USA

A woman in her 20s from the UK was arrested at a US airport after attempting to transport drugs in liquid form by soaking them into T-shirts.

According to recent reports from foreign media such as CBS News and Fox News, on the 2nd, customs authorities at Los Angeles International Airport searched the carry-on bag of Maia Sakwamante (female, 20), a British national who was about to board a flight to Australia. Suspicious signals were detected as the bag passed through the X-ray scanning equipment.

Customs officials revealed that upon searching Sakwamante's bag, they found 12 T-shirts stained with drugs inside the lining. The total weight was a staggering 13 kg. The T-shirts had been soaked in liquid drugs and then dried and solidified. An investigation official explained, "It appears that the drugs, originally in powder form, were dissolved in a special solution and then applied to the T-shirts."

The type of drug absorbed into the T-shirts was identified as methamphetamine, commonly known as Philopon. Although it was once widely used as a stimulant in some countries, due to the extreme euphoria it produces, its severe addictiveness, and side effects, its manufacture, sale, and use are now prohibited in most countries except for very limited medical purposes.

Authorities suspect that Sakwamante is involved in international drug trafficking. However, Sakwamante has consistently claimed to have "no knowledge" of the methamphetamine on the T-shirts. Regarding her reason for traveling to Australia, she stated it was "to meet her boyfriend." Sakwamante is currently charged with attempting to distribute drugs and related offenses.