Originally Posted by
AAaLot
...We had an 'appointment' with customs and immigration at an uncontrolled airport. They arrived over 40 minutes late.
I was a little upset that they had not apologized for being late, and perhaps this came through my attitude--I needed to get on my way. Nevertheless, the agent typed and typed into his computer.
I thought the customs agent was rude and overly aggressive. He searched everything [found nothing]. What I found silly about this is that we had been alone at this airport for almost an hour...we could have loaded and unloaded the airplane many times over. Furthermore, he stepped in parts of the plane that could damage the plane...
Waiting 40 minutes is not a long time to wait. This depends of course on the location of entry, time of day and how busy they were. Entry from the southern border of the US is identified as high risk for narcotics smuggling and can lead to more extensive searches. If the CBP agent was stepping on "no step" areas of the plane then the pilot should have said something to the agent.
The pilot is responsible to hold the aircraft, passengers and baggage until authorized for release. Failing to due so, the pilot will be subject to civil, criminal penalties and face a chance that their aircraft may be forfeited. A very strong motivation to comply with CBP exists.