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Old Jan 18, 2010 | 8:56 pm
  #9  
FlyingHoustonian
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Originally Posted by PTravel
What was weird was the fact of any search at all after the OP confirmed several times that she had not purchased anything.
yes, and no one would ever lie to CBP...

I must confess with Global Entry I rarely interact with US CBP anymore, however, unlike the feckless TSA, CBP are LEOs and have a duty to perform certain functions and they do this via a routine set of questions. Someone coming back from a cruise with no items to declare is not really the norm. yes it happens (I've done it myself) but when something is out of the ordinary that often trips CBP to perform additional checks. Taking somebody's word for it, is not really an option. From the OP it seems the check was handled quickly and one hopes that CBP remains professional throughout. It is always sad to read about rude agents that represent the USA, but I don't think letting everyone through that says they have nothing to declare is a valid option. My $0.02 YMMV

Ciao,
FH
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