Tourists Arrested After Trying to Bribe Their Way Into Hawaii Without COVID-19 Test Results
A pair of tourists from Louisiana have been sent back home after landing in Hawaii without negative COVID-19 test results and allegedly trying to bribe their way into the state.
Johntrell White and Nadia Bailey were arrested at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu after offering a combined $3,000 to an security screener in exchange for letting them through without requiring quarantine, Hawaii's attorney general said in a statement.
"White allegedly told an airport screener he would give her $2,000 to pass through without having to quarantine. Bailey also allegedly told the same screener she would throw in an additional $1,000 to let them both through without quarantining," the statement read.
White and Bailey are facing bribery charges and were quickly put on a flight back home.
Hawaii requires all visitors to provide proof a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of arrival. Anyone arriving without a test is required to quarantine for two weeks. And Hawaii takes enforcement of its rules seriously.
Hawaii law enforcement officials arrested another traveler for violating the state's COVID-19 rules the same day they picked up White and Bailey, The Washington Post reported. That traveler failed to show up for quarantine, opting instead to find a new hotel and go for a swim.
The Waikiki hotel where Anthony Johnson of Michigan was supposed to quarantine alerted police when he failed to check in. Police tracked him down and arrested him at a boat ramp near Kailua Beach, a two-and-a-half-mile stretch of golden sand that anchors a largely residential community.
In December, two travelers who flew to Hawaii knowing they had COVID-19 were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree.
Meena Thiruvengadam is a Travel Leisure contributor who has visited 50 countries on six continents and 47 U.S. states. She loves historic plaques, wandering new streets and walking on beaches. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
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