On Friday of last week, we reported on an incident at the Michael Finnegan market - where a pregnant woman was allegedly beaten up by market security. And even though we had many market vendors and even some customers giving their account of the beating, in a press release sent out by BAHA today, it states that 33 year old Maria Garcia was not beaten, and that she actually fell. The press release goes on to say that a Senior Quarantine Inspector for BAHA Zebedee Moore received a phone call from a custom examiner requesting his assistance to assist a special constable out at the market.
Moore then later received a call from the special constable who explained to him that they had Maria Garcia and her husband Felipe Valencia held for two bags of suspected imported Mexican Lettuce.
The 13 heads of lettuce were inspected and were verified to be Mexican Brand Mr. Lucky Lettuce. Moore said he requested for imports documents or a receipt to show proof of purchase from the couple and when that couldn't be done, Felipe Valencia and his wife Maria Garcia was charged two hundred dollars and were unable to pay because they had no money.
After being taken up to the Customs Investigation Unit, Moore stated that the pregnant woman began complaining of pain and that her legs were getting weak and so they were released. The press released stated that the couple left customs and on their way down, Maria fell down the stairs.
