Agents Make Woman Strip To Check For Pink Tattoo On Butt

A Montreal woman says Canadian border agents made her strip to see if she had a pink tattoo on her butt after mixing her up with an alleged criminal.

Sylvie M�nard, who has no history of trouble with the law, was flying home from a relaxing Mexico vacation but, when she got back, what she came home to was a humiliating encounter with airport authorities.

M�nard, who manages a wine business, says she's still looking for an official explanation as to why she was handcuffed, locked up, then told to undress.

"They don't have enough information to identify who's a criminal and who isn't," she says. "And that's the big problem."

Dominique McNeely, a spokesman for the Canada Border Services Agency, tells the 'Toronto Star' that he cannot discuss the case, but false matches occur and 'such checks' are necessary.

"We can't let someone enter the country unless we're absolutely certain about their identity."

The 43-year-old M�nard says after being questioned by an airport customs official she was pulled aside, her luggage was tested for drug residue and her name was run through a computer.

Then, a border officer promptly read out her rights, handcuffed her and led her to a cell.

"I was really stressed," she says.

As far as M�nard can tell, her name matched that of a suspected criminal with the same birth date and police were called.

She says it felt like a bad dream and was astounded when a female border officer asked her to expose her butt to see if she had a pink tattoo. The officer later made her disrobe a second time to check if maybe one had been erased with a laser.

M�nard says a police officer suggested she change her name to avoid future confusion.

"That was the solution."

She has filed complaints with the police watchdog and the border agency.

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