An ultrarunner is facing some legal trouble over a backcountry GPS communication device. Authorities arrested an ultrarunner Tina Lewis while she was on a trip to India.
Everything was going fine until she went to the Dabolim International Airport in India. Lewis had been traveling with a Garmin inReach Mini, a GPS device. It's a popular device used by many backcountry runners. You wouldn't think it would have been an issue. But it was.
"It had been an amazing trip, the trip of a lifetime," Lewis told Outside Online. That amazing trip quickly turned badly. Security at the airport approached her and asked her about the device. They then removed her from the security line and detained and interrogated her.
She ended up missing her flight. They charged the ultrarunner with an $11 fine, but she she spent more than $2,000 in legal fees and to pay bail.
Ultrarunner Was Arrested
"They treated me like a frickin' fugitive," she told the outlet. It turns out that the ultrarunner had accidentally violated an Indian law. Citizens are required to get a license in order to have a personal satellite or GPS device. She spent three consecutive days in court and spent six days trying to get her passport back from authorities.
In total, she spent thousands of dollars to stay out of jail. It turns out that satellite communicators are illegal unless registered. India is one of 14 countries where this is the case.
"I was just using the device to stay in touch with my family, to let them know where I was," she said. She had been unware of the law before traveling to India.
"I think it's just so ingrained in my lifestyle to always have it," she said. "Hiking technical terrain, scrambling, rock climbing, mountaineering. I always bring a Garmin, especially when traveling alone."
She said that she didn't think to research the laws, calling it ridiculous.
"I brought my Garmin to every other country I've been to," she said. "I didn't think to research that, when our phones and our watches all have GPS now."
"It needs to be challenged, and they need to update it," she said.
