Declaring illegal substances at customs – what would happen?

1/26/2013 6:45:08 AM

Can’t give a blanket statement about that. All depends on where you come from, where you’re declaring, what you’re declaring, your composure and behaviour, whether the officer(s) you’re dealing with are in a good mood or not, etc. etc. etc.
I’d suspect the TSA goons in the US to be a lot less likely to just let you go than many a customs official in the EU, and in many African countries they’d probably wink and forget about it if you gave them some money (then again, those same guys might come back and throw you in prison as soon as you turn your back for attempted bribery, then keep the stuff for themselves).

7/24/2012 8:00:11 AM

When you import coca candy from Bolivia into France, they just get confiscated. Hiding them is useless: custom dogs have an extremely sensitive nose.

I guess that this is the same for all products that are legal in your departure place but illegal in your destination place, like western women magazines into Iran.

I also guess that some products may raise attention of customs and you may undergo some questions from police about the reasons of your trip and why you brought a gun in your luggage or a laptop with an encrypted hard-disk. What happens next depends on your answers and whether you are already known to the police (either local or remote).

7/24/2012 6:18:12 AM

Since its illegal to use class A drugs anywhere, you cannot use “prescription” as a defense. Moreover, even if you have a legal prescription for a drug that is illegal in the US – you may be charged with a crime. Any Californian with a green card knows that.

If you’re lucky – you’ll just get deported and will have some explaining to do at the point of origin when you’re back there.

Just to point out the difference, the limitation on import of food and livestock is not because this kind of food or livestock is illegal (in NZ, per your example). You can have fruits in NZ. You just can’t bring fruits from other countries. That is the difference between sanitary limitations and illegal substances trafficking.

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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