North Carolina woman jailed in Honduras over 'safe can' back home

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- The co-owner of a popular bar in North Carolina is home after spending 10 days in a sweltering Honduran jail on drug charges.

Amanda LaRoque, 51, of Raleigh, regained her passport and was at a Honduras airport with a ticket Wednesday afternoon. She arrived in the Triangle early Thursday morning after a week-and-a-half long fight to get home.

Airport officials arrested her July 30 on the Caribbean island of Roatan on suspicion of carrying cocaine. Her mother, Barbara Levy, said LaRoque had stashed several thousand dollars in a safe disguised as a can of Arizona iced tea, and a concretelike substance inside had flaked off into a powder.

Last Friday, husband Brandon LaRoque posted a photo on social media of a drug test's negative results. A judge dismissed the case.

LaRoque had been in Honduras on a house-hunting vacation. The couple owns the Goat bar in Raleigh.

"I'm looking forward to just chilling out...putting this behind me," she said.

She said she is thankful for all the coverage on her story, which she believes helped get her home. She is also thankful for all the support she's received since the ordeal began.

Back in Cary, her mother said she was thrilled her daughter was returning home.

"I haven't slept more than three or four hours a night, if even that, and the phone doesn't stop ringing," Levy said. "I mean, I'm exhausted. Once they get home tonight, I think I will spend the entire day tomorrow sleeping. I'm turning off all the phones."