Originally Posted by
RadioGirl
What you are really saying is that a background check, which, by definition looks at what someone has DONE in the PAST (and actually, only what someone has been CAUGHT doing), is useless for guaranteeing what that person might have THOUGHT about doing or what they might do in the FUTURE.
Not really - rather, the point is merely that the background check and past conduct doesn't identify the likelihood of future bad conduct with 100% accuracy. Of course that's true - people using GE still forget and bring bananas back, and may try to do so intentionally. That's just part of the program.
The hook is the penalties are more severe. And I'm not sure that the odds of successfully running a smuggling operation for something valuable are that much better. Say you're bringing drugs - if you're low risk and don't have GE you still could probably get away with it without a search. Of course, assuming the dogs or pigs or whatever sniffs out the drugs don't figure it out, and they're going to alert on the bags whether you're GE or not.
Like many people here I've been through customs many dozen times. I don't recall being searched more than once or twice (including once with GE). Why? Probably because I have nothing suspicious in my background, including suspicious travel patterns (e.g., weekly flights to Colombia), my travels generally haven't been to countries known for smuggling, and perhaps some luck. GE hasn't really changed that - just that I can skip the lines.