Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 ARVADA, Colo. -- An Arvada woman said she's facing a $500 fine from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after she saved a free apple she received from an airline on her way home from Paris. Crystal Tadlock said toward the end of her flight, attendants passed out apples in plastic bags. When she went through customs, she said her bag was randomly searched and the customs agent pulled out the apple. "He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'Yeah.' And then he said it’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500.” 
 
 She’s frustrated, not only because of the fine, but because she said Delta didn’t inform her that this could happen. Tadlock said Delta shouldn't have passed out apples to customers or at least reminded passengers not to take the fruit off the plane. “It’s unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit.” 
 
 She received the apple from a Delta airline employee, but she wasn’t hungry at the time, so she put it in her carry-on bag. Delta released a statement about the incident, saying: “We encourage our customers to follow U.S. Customs and Border Protection Protocols.” 
 
 A spokesperson with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection also released a similar statement: “Privacy policy prohibits U.S. Customs and Border Patrol from discussing details of any individual’s specific inspection, however, all agriculture items must be declared.” 
 
 “I understand the laws and that the Department of Agriculture doesn’t want certain insects in the U.S.,” she told KDVR.
– Crystal Tadlock may think twice before accepting anything from a Delta attendant again. Flying back from Paris, the Colorado woman accepted a free apple handed out by an attendant and stuffed it in her carry-on bag—only to discover at customs that the fruit would cost her $500, KDVR reports. The customs agent "asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah,'" said Tadlock after her bag was randomly searched. "I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500.'" She asked if she could toss the apple or eat it, but the agent said no. "It’s really unfortunate someone has to go through that and be treated like a criminal over a piece of fruit," says Tadlock, who also lost her Global Entry Status. She blames Delta for handing out the fruit without warning, and says Customs should have cut her a break. Customs and Border Patrol responded by saying that "all agriculture items must be declared," and a Delta spokesperson said "we encourage our customers to follow US Customs and Border Protection protocols." For her part, Tadlock plans to fight the fine in court. "I understand the laws," she says, per KPTV. "But once again, the apple is from Delta and I think that’s the most important part of this story."