A recent vacation break to Miami almost ended in disaster when the police stopped our car due to a broken tail light.

My girlfriend had persuaded me to take a last minute package holiday to Florida. We’d been lucky enough to get a really cheap last minute fly-drive deal that gave us 7 nights to explore Orlando and enjoy the Gulf coast.

We flew from Gatwick to Orlando airport and went straight to the car hire desk to collect the keys to our car. We’d pre-arranged the car that we wanted and had booked the first two nights in the Clarion Hotel which is just across the road from the Wet’n'Wild theme park, close to international drive. Our loose plan was to stay put if we liked the hotel and its location, or move on if we were inclined.

Our first night was spent resting in the hotel ready for our first full day which we spent sight-seeing and shopping. We ended an excellent day with a fantastic meal at a seafood restaurant that provided some excellent entertainment along with great service. It was on the drive back to our hotel that things took a turn for the worse.

It was when we got on the highway that a police car came up behind us and indicated for us to pull over. The police officer told me that one of my car brake lights wasn’t working and he asked me to step out of the car to take a look. I informed the police officer that we had only arrived the previous day and picked up the hire car from Orlando airport. The helpful police officer suggested that I should open the trunk so that he could take a look at our faulty lamp.

He shone his torch into the boot and there were clearly some traces of what looked like a white powder covering the trunk lining. The police officer suddenly became serious and he went back to his car where he spent some minutes communicating on his radio. Within only a few minutes a second police car arrived with two officers inside. They told us that we were to accompany them to the police station to answer a few questions.

At the police station it became clear that the substance found in the trunk was cocaine and that the police suspected that we were drug dealers. My girlfriend was understandably very upset by the whole experience. It took no less than nine hours before they could verify who we were and that we were genuinely there on holiday.

Luckily there were still people working at the car hire office, even at that late hour, and they were able to provide police with details of the person who had hired the car prior to us. We still have no idea if the police were able to track down the person responsible for carrying drugs in the boot of the hire car.

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Travel tip: We saved a fortune on airport parking by booking online, in advance. Also, make certain that your travel insurance policy covers you for legal expenses abroad.