A Jamaican national was detained for nearly three months in the U.S. after bringing in three bottles of honey from the Caribbean island that customs agents mistakenly thought was liquid methamphetamine.

Leon Haughton, who has lived in Maryland for 10 years, had gone back to visit his family in Jamaica over Christmas.

The 45-year-old had bought three bottles of honey from his favorite roadside stand to bring back with him.

His long ordeal started on December 29 when he landed back at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and customs agents had a dog sniff his bags.

He assumed the dogs had sniffed the KFC chicken he had in his bag but was surprised when agents seized the three bottles of honey he uses to sweeten his tea.

Leon Haughton, who has lived in Maryland for 10 years, was taken into custody after flying in from Jamaica when authorities suspected his honey was actually liquid methamphetamine

The agents told him they suspected him of transporting liquid methamphetamine.

'I'm 100 percent sure I don't have drugs. I only have honey,' Haughton recalls telling the agents, according to the Washington Post.

He fainted after they placed him in detention and he was taken to jail.

Haughton and his attorney Terry Morris believe he was stereotyped because of his race.

They said he was questioned while in custody about a 'big Jamaican gang and drug dealing conspiracy'.

The laboratory results from Maryland took more than two weeks to arrive and they came back negative.

Authorities then sent the bottles to a second laboratory in Georgia after the first was judged to be insufficiently equipped to analyze the liquids.

Although he had a green card granting him legal residence in the U.S., Haughton's arrest set in motion a detention process with immigration.

The 45-year-old had bought three bottles of honey (above) from his favorite roadside stand to bring back with him from Jamaica. They were seized when he flew back into Baltimore after authorities suspected they were laced with liquid methamphetamine

His lawyer had enormous difficulty contacting immigration authorities given the government had been partially shut down.



The tests in Georgia, meanwhile, finally confirmed that Haughton was indeed transporting honey.

The charges were dropped and he was freed on March 21 after 82 days in custody.

Unable to work for three months and far from his six children, Haughton lost his two jobs as a cleaner and construction worker.

'They messed up my life,' he said.

'I want the world to know that the system is not right. If I didn't have strong people around me, they would probably leave me in jail. You're lost in the system.'

'I'm scared to even travel right now. You're innocent, and you can end up in jail.'

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said privacy laws prohibited them from commenting on individual's cases.

A spokesperson for the state's attorney's office said there was no error from any agency regarding Haughton's detainment.