A month or so ago, I got the "pat on the head, you poor ignorant bastage" letter from US customs regarding a MAW that they intercepted from Canada (note: please don't include notes in packages going through customs, it makes denial much harder).

Anyway, fast forward to this past 10 days and my trip to New Zealand. Every place that US customs could intercept my bags, they were inspected (for training purposes and because my US comrades want the government to do this, so they acquiesce). Never had a bag searched by customs before. No personal searches, just bag searches.

Quite interesting.
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that is interesting
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I have often believed that customs keeps a naughty and nice list.

Remember just because your paranoid doesn't mean they are not watching you.
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:-)
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That's kind of crappy. I never really thought about them keeping a black list or anything like that. Makes sense though, sneaky little bastards.
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Sorry to hear that. It can definately make a trip not fun anymore.
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Yep, it sure seems you made the naughty list. :-)
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Fear not.
There is hope down the line for you.

I know a guy quite well that travels quite often to the land I would love to see again. I unfortunately don't have the same set of cojones he does.

He always brings back tons of stuff which he often shares with me and others (rarely smokes, mostly coffee and rum). About a year ago, he had a very nice bottle of that you know what Club rum (not the 7, I think it was the 15) that I specifically requested he bring me and it got confiscated upon arrival here, along with tons of other stuff. I think he had like 10 bottles alone, lots of coffee, the stuff we smoke, and so on. They even pulled him into a "special" room and had him sweating profusely for quite a while.

Well, he just got back from another trip and tells me he has a bottle of the 7 year for me and brought back lots of stuff. Was never questioned. Go figure. Is that a set of cojones or what?
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It hasn't happened to me, but I can relate to this story. Growing up, I lived very close to the canadien boarder. My brother used to cross on a very frequent basis cause he was seeing some chick. He got stopped once for a problem and from that point forward, ever time he went across they stopped him and questioned him thoroughly. He was also inspected quite regularly as well following that one time.
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Always seems to me that the safest place to have something is on your person. They never check me, just my bags.

Interesting indeed.
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This dude has a pair! Way to stick it to the man! :-)
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That would seem safer, however consider this. If they find it in your bag, you can always claim you forgot to take it out and use it before returning.

If they find it on your person, it's smuggling. No forgets about it. Then, if you think you were on a "bad" list before, see what happens the next time!!

WWhermit
:-):
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I got pulled out of line on my way back from Germany a few years back. I had nothing to confiscate so I had no problems.
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you should cut someone!
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Interesting. I hope there's not a bad list, but it seems like there's something to it. :-)
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I guess you've got a good point, but I've never seen them tell someone in the line to dump their pockets or pull up your pants legs, etc.
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Wait a minute................

oh crap.........................

You mean that cavity search they did on me is not standard procedure?:-)
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Face it, Carlos, you are special :-)
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I was never quite able to figure out how that customs' agent was able to keep two hands on my shoulders while doing the standard procedure cavity search.:-):-):-)
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Did the agent speak with a slight lisp?
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