Originally Posted by Seachain
8 years ago in 'mid africa' i was getting ready to leave on the weekly departure flight. the locals had advised that the official manning the exit-stamp hut would require $10-20 to avoid "irregularities". But... if caught bribing officials, i could face greater penalties. in the back of my passport was a folded $20 note and i said nothing when i handed over my passport. my story would be "i didn't know that cash was in there.. it was a mistake" to blur any culpability. but when the passport was handed back to me, he smiled, i smiled back, i didn't look at the passport, and so.. left. once i was well beyond the hut, i looked into the passport and behold... no $20 note!
i believe the technique can be applied most times documents are required to be presented.
Great stories, folks. Thanks.
There is some danger associated with the technique described above. I took a Latvian friend to the airport in Winter 1997, and I knew that he had gambled away his money during his stay, and that he had nothing left to buy presents for his family, so I slipped 200 Marks in his passport, unbeknownst to him. When he went through immigration in Riga, the bill fell out, and the official seemed to be very happy. The 200 was my favorite bill of all times, but, due to its value, it would have made for a poor bribe, unless someone were to, say, smuggle major amounts of contraband. My friend didn't know where the money came from, but he claimed it was his, and he refused to give it up. So he had to go through rather nasty treatment, but he kept the bill. So be careful what you transport in your passport...