Vick In Airport Water Bottle Incident

JANUARY 18--Miami police are investigating NFL star Michael Vick after airport screeners yesterday seized a water bottle from him at a security checkpoint and later discovered that the bottle included a "concealed compartment" that appeared to contain a small amount of marijuana.

According to a Miami-Dade Police Department report, a copy of which you'll find here, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback was "reluctant to turn over his water bottle during the screening process" at Miami International Airport (the athlete was booked on an AirTran flight to Atlanta). Vick subsequently relinquished the 20-ounce Aquafina bottle, which was placed in a recycling bin by a Transportation Security Administration screener.

Suspicious as to why Vick hesitated in handing over the bottle, TSA screener Gertrude Joseph retrieved the bottle, notified her supervisor, and brought the item to the TSA operations center. There, officials discovered that the bottle's label "contained a seam which separated the top and the bottom of the bottle. Both ends were sealed by clear partitions and what appeared to be a silicone sealant."

The concealed compartment, the report notes, contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with Marijuana." It appears that Vick had departed to Atlanta before the screeners had finished analyzing his water bottle, which was transported to the Miami-Dade Police Department lab for analysis.

Following the 2002 arrests of members of a Miami-based Ketamine ring, Drug Enforcement Administration agents pointed out a "new smuggling trick" being used by traffickers: Aquafina water bottles outfitted with "a hidden compartment for drugs." Click here to view a DEA evidence photo showing three of the seized Aquafina bottles.

The retrofitted $15 bottle can now be found for sale online, where it is advertised as a "diversion safe." (3 pages)