James Buckley mistaken for drug smuggler when he tried to bring gravy cubes into the US
US Airport Security thought James Buckley's packed OXO gravy cubes in his suitcase were drugs.
James Buckley was mistaken for a drug smuggler after he attempted to bring OXO gravy into America.
The 37-year-old actor - who is best known for playing foul-mouthed teenager Jay Cartwright in The Inbetweeners - almost got into serious trouble with US Airport Security when they saw the powder cubes wrapped up in tin foil in his suitcase.
Following the incident, James - who packed the food items for his wife Clair Buckley's Auntie Dora, who lives in the States - is now "flagged straight away" anytime he tries to enter North America.
He revealed on a recent episode of his and wife Clair's The Buckleys podcast: "Anytime that I go to America, I have to, at the other end, open my suitcase up and show them everything that's in the suitcase.
"Not because I was smuggling drugs or anything cool like that. No, it was because I tried to get some OXO cubes into the country. And that was a big problem.
"When I go to America, I stay with your family. They're Scottish."
Clair said: "My Auntie Dora wanted some OXO."
James continued: "She was like, 'Can you get us some OXO and some Bisto and bring that with you?'
"I was like, 'Yeah, absolutely.'
"To be fair, OXO cubes are tiny little powder cubes wrapped up in tin foil, and they were like, 'What is that?'
"And I was like, 'Oh, it's gravy.' And they took them from me."
Even though US Airport Security was satisfied the beef gravy cubes were not drugs, James could not take them into the country because meat products are banned - or restricted - from being brought into the United States due to import laws.
He said: "I wasn't allowed to to take them because it's like beef, isn't it? It's a beef extract.
"So it's like meat and veg, certain meat and vegetables you can't take from one country to another.
"So now, anytime I go to America, I'm flagged straight away. I can't just go straight through. I have to have this whole thing at the other end."
James and Clair - who have two sons, Harrison, 13, and Jude, 11 - went to Florida a few years ago, and they put all their suitcases under Clair's name to avoid him being flagged by US Airport Security when they touched down in the state.
She said: "And then don't you remember the last time when we went to Florida, you put everything in my name?"
James replied: "I put all the suitcases under you."
