(CNN) Days after Christmas, Leon Haughton flew back to the US from his birthplace in Jamaica with three jars of honey. He had no idea they would cost him his freedom for nearly three months.

The Maryland resident spent 82 days in jail after he was arrested December 29 and accused of bringing a controlled substance into the country. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers who searched Haughton's bag upon his arrival to Baltimore/Washington International Airport said the honey he was carrying tested positive for drugs.

"They said I was charged with methamphetamine, so I said, 'what is methamphetamine?'" Haughton told CNN affiliate WJLA.

Charging documents say the 46-year-old man told officers he had purchased the honey on the side of a road in Jamaica, but officers suspected it was liquid meth.

Each of the three bottles tested positive for methamphetamine in a field test, according to a probable cause statement. Haughton was taken to a county jail to face multiple charges including importing a controlled substance into the state and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

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