On a recent trip to Rio De Janeiro, where I was about to undertake 4 days work for my client I ran into, for the first time corruption at its best, or worse depends where you sit on the topic.

I flew with Varig from LAX, reasonable flight, nothing to write home about.
Well, we arrived into GIG airport, and waited patiently by the carousel for my baggage, and waited, and waited....

Eventually I had my name called, and I went to the location describe, to be met by two very large customs officials..

I was escorted to the little side room and ask to open the case.
Apart from the usual items of clothing and wash gear there was nothing to get excited about.....

I thought, wrongly that that was it....then they ask to look at my laptop, I open the bag and proceeded to show them all the neat features I had on it...Please remember this was also a tool for my job....

I was astonished when one officer asked for the documents for the laptop, of cause I had none...well the look of glee that ran across there faces...I was not sure why....

After about 2 hours of backwards and forwards I was told that the laptop was going to be confiscated...I was out raged and demonstrated with a number of expletives, which they could understand.

I left the airport without my laptop and contacted a customs broker to help me retrieve the item, he arrived at the airport about and hour later and we both went to see the customs officials..

A heated discussion took place in Portuguese between my broker and the custom officials, eventually my broker said if I want it back I have to pay a tax.....

A tax, you have to be joking I said....he explained , that it was not a tax in the true sense of the word, but a local tax....IE. a bribe.!!

An hour later and a trip to the bank I returned with $2500 US, which I handed over to the customs official and in turn they handed over the laptop.

I did ask for a receipt, and at that point they laugh and offered me the jail..

This was not something I wished to experienced, so I collected my belongings and left....

All I can say is " you have been warned"

What really makes me sad, is that while traveling around Rio and seeing the poverty and crime on the streets, and I mean from kids as young as 5 and 6 years old that have no home or family support, you feel that these people have no hope when the country is corrupt all the was to the people you are taught to respect.