Logan (Boston) Customs Picks on the Wrong Passenger
 

Massachusetts State Treasurer Cahill and his family were detained by Logan Airport's Customs and Border Protection for...
three peaches.
<gasp>
Brief details here

Hmmmm....I wonder why tourism to this country is down.

This cracks me up.

I don't think this is why. I just laugh at how Mr. Cahill trotted out the "Do you know who I am?" line.

Just goes to show that in America, everyone is equal. Equally abused.

Maybe if some gov't officials start experiencing this crap things will start to change as they "get it."

One can hope, anyway. :o

This is different than the usual TSA "security" harassment of visitors. On almost every flight I have been on returning from Europe there has been an announcement about not bringing fruit, meat, and such into the US. This is aimed at preventing the spread of non-native pests and blights which can devastate agriculture.

Mr. Cahill should have been aware of these restrictions.

We were once caught (by a beagle in baggage claim) with a banana. We were coming back into EWR from somewhere. It was obvious that we had completely forgotten about the banana. The BICE people were quite understanding. They screened all of our possessions and let us go without any fine. In fact, it never occurred to me until now that there may have been any fine. We're much more careful about finishing off our food before leaving the plane now!

No. You were treated like everyone else, sir.

Why should they have known or cared?

Pompous twit.

How was he abused?

I assume they "knowingly" signed the customs declaration?

It's all very well to scoff at "three peaches".. but how many pieces of infested/infected fruit does it take to introduce a new pest/plant disease to a country?

Can't recall the specific questions on the customs/quarantine forms entering the US.. but coming into Australia you are required to answer ("Yes" or "No".. it ain't rocket science) to questions about having foodstuffs/plants etc with you.. and - GOSH! - You are held responsible for the answers you give......:eek: Fancy that!

Sounds like that's all that happened here....

Not sure how Customs picked on the wrong passenger here.

Sounds rather like they "picked on" the right one.

Many years ago I was coming home from Paris flying into JFK and I had some ham slices in my carryon. We had forgotten them and they were taken away by Customs who told us, they may carry parasites. That was long before 9-11 and the current crop of CPB/ICE (probably before a lot of them were born IiRC). So it's not a new thing. We had forgotten them and it was a mistake, they took it away and we went on our way to catch a TW flight back to LAX.

The rules haven't changed that much, people should be aware.

ab53

Bingo (not to prolong the thread too much).... What part of "no fruits or vegatables" don't you understand.

I once had one of the Beagles sit down next to my carryon at JFK.... I had removed a leftover banana during the flight back, but the scent lingered on.... A quick check through my ENTIRE luggage cleared me to go on, about a ten minuit additional wait...

shoulda flown through ORD, no scans of baggage or sniffing dogs. you could sneak a cow in through there.

This whole forum cracks me up. I always come here when I need a laugh and a pick me up:)

Thanks

Try giving your sob story to farmers who have been devastated by the Mediterranean Fruit Fly or Citrus Canker.

Last three times I've gone through ORD int'l arrivals, a dog was around sniffing bags.

Too bad we can't have them sniffing around in the "security" lines.

What none of these posts nor the linked article address are the family's reactions & behavior when the contraband was discovered.

That might have a lot to do with the fine. :D

I assume "threatened with a night in jail" was a response to this guy being a jerk. There have been so many cases of agricultural contamination - especially from fruit - that this is no laughing matter. As a kid, I remember the orange groves burning due to citrus canker....

A $300 fine ($100 per fruit) actually seems pretty appropriate. I hope people will read this and think twice.

From the OP's link:

Sounds like 'tude to me. What relevance is it to the custom's officer who Cahill's employer is?

Last time I went through ORD a beagle was sniffing the baggage. It's possible of course that it was relieved from duty since then, because after sniffing on one carry-on bag it decided to lift its leg and pee over it.

HTB.

But that was the dog's signal that it had found some contraband!

Then the owner didn't understand it :D She disappeared and reappeared with tissue paper to clean up the mess, apologizing profusely... The owner of the carry-on was allowed to leave.

HTB.

Tongue and cheek.

America doesn't treat people very well in customs or in immigration and treats visitors like criminals. If i get an indifferent response, I consider myself fortunate. Being a citizen doesn't grant any special privileges, let alone being a gov't official.

What does the TSA have to do with this?? This guy was probably giving them 'tude and got treated like this because of it.
cheers
howie

TSA is a part of DHS. Same "leadership", for TSA and for CBP.

It sounds like the guy is guilty, guilty, guilty, and blaming it on his daughter to boot. What a "peach."

Given how MassPort and some Mass "authorities" treat us regular citizens, I have to laugh about what happened to him.

What goes around comes around.

True, true, but I can't recall what (if any) foreign agricultural pests have utilized international flight pax as vectors. Most, if not all, of these pests (e.g. emerald ash borer) arrived in industrial shipments that weren't screened at all at the POE before being shipped to the point of sale -- not that I'm suggesting that the quarantines should be removed.

Also agree with previous comments about Cahill. Moron!

I'm looking at this this way, tell him that is bad to introduce items into an eco system that its not designed for, or just take them away and say its not allowed. I don't understand the whole holding them and treating with arrest thing. But its not this issue that really is the jist of it here. Its not just this issue but the larger issue at hand, Customs and Immigration officers yes I understand have a duty to security and protection, and I'm all for that, but that doesn't mean being rude, or giving rude treatment to people, not only being rude to your own citizens, but to foreign citizens visiting, I can't imagine how bad its for them visiting the US, its certainly no wonder why international tourism and business to the US is down, its because of shotty treatment by officials on arrival. I travel overseas and get treated better by foreign immigration/customs officers, then I do by my own.

Sounds to me like typically moronic Boston wannabe behavior.

Trying to be the tough-guy, next Greatest American Hero.

What makes you think this guy understands words like ecosystem?

Rudeness is rudeness, period. The guy wasn't polite enough to take his lumps. Furthermore, he caused enough of a ruckus to intimidate CBP-A, whose only line of defense is any CBPO that happens by or to call the cops. They don't even carry OC spray.

The agriculture officer was only doing his job. Usually the only ones I see complaining are US citizens.

Maybe because if some foreign national started complaining they'll be afraid that they'll be sent right to a detention cell or right back on the plane they came on?

The thing, I'm looking at is the overall status of CPB and treatment in welcoming back citizens and visitors not this particular incident. I guess a large part of the security forum would be out of business if no one had a complaint about procedure, treatment they received etc. Everything is just fine at port of entries.

IME, the worst treatment I've ever seen US Customs folks inflict on inbound passengers was at IAD where an elderly oriental woman spoke little or no English and ended up in the wrong line. The Customs officer was yelling at her and berating her for going down the wrong line, including "If you come to America, you better know how to speak and read English, otherwise maybe you should just go back to where you came from".

In my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse for acting that way to a visitor to the US, especially an elderly person.

This reminds me of standing in long lines in customs while trying to enter Ottawa, and having the "public servants" walk by and proceed to their own personal checkpoint...

I agree. Perhaps if these "better than the people that elected me" types were forced to wait in lines, be treated like crap by customs, TSA, etc., then and only then, maybe things would improve.

Let's see. 3 peaches, or uninspected overseas cargo arriving into the country. Which has the largest chance of devastation?

Once you've answered that (hopefully correctly), try this one? Between international passengers and overseas cargo shipments, which has the lower inspection percentage?

We've had agricultural product restrictions for years, all predating 9/11. There used to be checkpoints at the California borders until the funding was wisely eliminated by the Governator ;)

Not sure why the TSA would be involved as opposed to the USDA or Mass. Dept of Agric. The $300 fine sounds like a bit of overkill for a child's mistake, but it is gratifying to see the "do you know who I am" jerks put in their place.

Hope this guy doesn't plan to vacation in Maui anythime soon. They are very strict there.

As for the devasation comments, keep in mind that a few mediterranean fruit flies can wreak havoc on California agriculture, and we endured years of toxic spraying to eradicate them. So yes, 3 peaches sound pretty harmless - but the results can be far from pretty, even if they aren't lethal like anthrax.

Don't you think there are just some people who like to push the limits or who think they are exempt? I have come through immigration 18 times in the last 5years (including once from Cuba) and I have never once had a problem with customs/immigration.

No doubt there's going to always be someone who thinks they are eligible for something but thats in many other fields not just this alone, but on the other hand the overall number of people aren't criminals, but are treated like they are, and treated poorly by incoming Immigration and Customs officials, maybe your case is different, but I often see yelling officers at incoming travelers, many who probably don't speak much english to begin with, and gruff treatment even for citizens themselves.

Just look at the sharp decline in the number of foreign visitors and business to the US. Its so bad, that even Disney now has some consultants with the government in ways to help improve the experience for incoming and returning travelers.