Local mother and daughter arrested in India

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Indian authorities arrested two Santa Barbara women today after they were held in a cell for nearly 24 hours on suspicion of ammunition trafficking.
The women, Monica Bond, 57, and Heather K. Bond, 37, a mother, daughter duo that had been traveling in India for the past month, were detained yesterday after officials at a Darjeeling airport discovered several 9 mm bullets in Heather Bond’s baggage.

Sean McGaughey, Heather Bond’s boyfriend, told the Daily Sound last night he wasn’t sure if the women would be charged, but was told they would be formally arraigned. He said the two women could be fined and released or held there for an extended period of time.
“I’m beside myself,” he said. “I just want my lady back and her mom.”
He said an attorney from the U.S. Embassy has been assigned the case and is expected to represent the women.
McGaughey said the 9 mm bullets belong to him and likely found their way into the bag on one of the couple’s backpacking trips in the Santa Barbara backcountry, where they regularly carry weapons.
Lawrence Bond, Monica Bond’s husband, said the bullets went through security at four airports, including LAX, before being detected.
“The weird thing is they went through security at LAX, Taipei, Taiwan and New Delhi at least twice,” he said.
An Indian official said in The Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta that authorities there found 11 bullets and had determined they were made in the United States, but were checking to see if they were purchased in India.
McGaughey said he was told one of the reasons the women were being arrested was because he and Lawrence Bond didn’t act quickly enough.
But he insisted he and Lawrence Bond haven’t slept a wink since being notified of the incident and he attempted to fax documents to India for six hours on Sunday night but the authorities there had turned their fax machine off.
Throughout the detainment, Lawrence Bond said the two women were allowed to keep their cell phone and stayed in close contact.
The Telegraph said Indian law allows people to check weapons in their baggage similar to U.S. law, but they must carry a permit for the weapon.
He said one of the documents McGaughey faxed to officials was his license for the 9 mm pistol.
Heather Bond, a San Marcos High School alumnus, is quoted in The Telegraph as saying, “We travel regularly and the cartridges were in our travel bag and we brought them to India by mistake. There is thus no question of carrying any documents linked to them.”
Lawrence Bond said this is the largest trip the two have ever taken and they’ve been planning it for more than three years.
“I’m worried sick,” he said. “I’ve been up ever since trying to pull strings and get some action.
“They’re so far away and that was my concern before they left, that if anything happened, how was I going to help them?”