Trini’s ‘gun’ heels seized at airport

Trini’s ‘gun’ heels seized at airport

Rhondor Dowlat
Published: Guardian
Friday, March 4, 2016

The gun-shaped heels seized by TSA officials.
Trinidadian Kashma Maharaj made headline news all over the world yesterday, as the woman who tried to go through an international airport checkpoint with gun-themed shoes and two bracelets lined with realistic-looking bullet figurines.

Maharaj is a partner at Fashionista Trinidad, owner-operator at kashmamaharaj.com and owner at Supernova Sports Ltd. She is also a fitness instructor and personal trainer.

According to international reports, Maharaj was stopped at the Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport on Saturday by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, after they found the shoes and bracelets in her carry-on bag.

In a New York Post article, TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein tweeted: “Shoes and bracelets that are less than ideal to wear or bring to a @TSA checkpoint. These delayed a traveller at BWI.”

Farbstein later told the Baltimore Sun that Maharaj was ordered to put the items in her checked luggage, but refused and chose to leave them with the TSA because she was running late for her flight.

The report stated the stilettos Maharaj had in her possession, described as a Bondgirl-701-3 Gun Heel Platform Sandals, are made by exotic footwear manufacturer Pleaser USA and are said to be one of their most popular items.

“They look authentic, but the 7.5 inch gun-barrel heels are plastic, and finished with a chrome coating in order to make them look more realistic,” according to Pleaser USA spokeswoman Elody Romero.

Romero was quoted as saying that in her nine years at the company, she had never heard of an incident where heels were confiscated.

“She brought them in her carry-on luggage? That probably wasn’t the smartest decision,” Romero told the Baltimore Sun in a report.

Maharaj, who found the entire incident very hilarious, subsequently posted links to the various news articles on her Facebook page. On one post, Maharaj said: “I normally drive or just check all bags, but it was just a tiny overnight bag...can’t win...funny thing is I ended up checking the bag cause of limited overhead space.”

Efforts to reach Maharaj for further comment were unsuccessful.

www.guardian.co.tt/news/2016-03-04/trini...heels-seized-airport