What's the oddest thing you've smuggled across a border?
Jun 30, 2008, 6:29 am
#77
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Derbyshire, UK
Programs: FB Platinum
Posts: 520
2kg bag of Tesco Own Brand muesli from UK to China....long stay in a hotel there....breakfast was terrible so took my own. Goodness knows what Chinese customes would have made of it
Also got stopped exiting Vietnam to China with a spent AK47 bullet. Got to fire one on a tour and kept it as a souvenir....until I got to Ho Chi Minh airport
Also got stopped exiting Vietnam to China with a spent AK47 bullet. Got to fire one on a tour and kept it as a souvenir....until I got to Ho Chi Minh airport
Jun 30, 2008, 6:48 am
#78
Join Date: May 2008
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC*SE, SPG Gold, HH D
Posts: 1,130
I'm so well behaved compared to you lot 
A friend of mine smuggled a tortoise shell bracelet from Trinidad into Canada for me. I didn't ask for it, and wasn't comfortable taking it til she explained that the person who made the bracelets only used shells he'd found from animals that were already dead. I hope that was true!
A friend of mine smuggled a tortoise shell bracelet from Trinidad into Canada for me. I didn't ask for it, and wasn't comfortable taking it til she explained that the person who made the bracelets only used shells he'd found from animals that were already dead. I hope that was true!
Jun 30, 2008, 9:18 am
#79
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,784
I smuggled a small drive shaft (For a sailboat), several reduction gears, and 4 litres of special hydraulic fluid from the US into Uruguay for my folks. The customs inspector opened my 40kg bag and started asking questions. I pretended to not speak Spanish and kept repeating that it was for a boat in transit (It wasn't...). Fortunately, he soon tired of me and just waved me through.
As I was waiting for my ride outside of the MVD terminal, he came out for a smoke saw me chatting away en espanol to another traveller and gave me the stink-eye for a few moments until my ride arrived.
It truns out that the import duty was something to the effect of $400USD...
As I was waiting for my ride outside of the MVD terminal, he came out for a smoke saw me chatting away en espanol to another traveller and gave me the stink-eye for a few moments until my ride arrived.
It truns out that the import duty was something to the effect of $400USD...
Jun 30, 2008, 12:33 pm
#80
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: ORD, LGA
Programs: AA EXP 2MM
Posts: 348
Pate and sausages from France to the US (managed to get the beagles to move on by discreetly giving them a gentle kick in the backside while my girlfriend distracted the customs agent).
2 cartoons of cigarettes into Singapore from Hong Kong for a friend.
2 cartoons of cigarettes into Singapore from Hong Kong for a friend.
Jun 30, 2008, 12:45 pm
#81
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,505
"Der Spiegel" weekly magazine from Germany into Czechoslovakia when the iron curtain was still alive and kicking (1980s). The magazine was considered politcal material and thus totally banned.
Jun 30, 2008, 3:32 pm
#83
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: OH
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, Marriot Lifetime Gold
Posts: 9,539
The usual:
- Cuban cigars
- an entire duffle bag of coffee beans with a few bottles of Costa Rica sugarcane liquor stuffed inside (I was under 21 at the time)
- not illegal but several cans of pumpkin pie filling and cranberry sauce into Spain so I could cook Tanksgiving dinner
- Cambodian currency (had no clue that was illegal)
- regular grocery shopping and too much meat/wine from France to Switzerland
- Cuban cigars
- an entire duffle bag of coffee beans with a few bottles of Costa Rica sugarcane liquor stuffed inside (I was under 21 at the time)
- not illegal but several cans of pumpkin pie filling and cranberry sauce into Spain so I could cook Tanksgiving dinner
- Cambodian currency (had no clue that was illegal)
- regular grocery shopping and too much meat/wine from France to Switzerland
Jun 30, 2008, 6:46 pm
#86
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Massachusetts, USA; AA Plat, DL GM and Flying Colonel; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 24,233
Six bottles of California wine, back and forth across the Canadian border six or eight times while heading east more or less along the border, in a car
Smuggling wine isn't that unusual, but the method might be. The bottles were in a cardboard box in the middle of the back seat. To its left were a couple of other cardboard boxes. On top of them were clothing and a painting we had bought in San Francisco.
Every time we crossed a border, the customs officer asked "What's in the back seat?" I started with the clothes. Then I talked about the painting, how it was by an artist who's a bit color blind, which explains the odd colors of the leaves on the trees, ... (I could spin that one for a while.) Next came the first box. It had a deep-fat fryer we had picked up from my aunt in Chicago on our way west, she didn't need it any more since my uncle had died and their son had moved to Arizona, where we might go to visit him one of these days, but not until after ... Next was another box, I forget what was in it, but no customs officer could stand listening to the stories that long!
(This was well before 9/11. Things might be different now, but I haven't tried to smuggle wine across the U.S.-Canada border since then. Try this at your own risk. If it doesn't work, you get back every penny you paid for the idea.)
Smuggling wine isn't that unusual, but the method might be. The bottles were in a cardboard box in the middle of the back seat. To its left were a couple of other cardboard boxes. On top of them were clothing and a painting we had bought in San Francisco.
Every time we crossed a border, the customs officer asked "What's in the back seat?" I started with the clothes. Then I talked about the painting, how it was by an artist who's a bit color blind, which explains the odd colors of the leaves on the trees, ... (I could spin that one for a while.) Next came the first box. It had a deep-fat fryer we had picked up from my aunt in Chicago on our way west, she didn't need it any more since my uncle had died and their son had moved to Arizona, where we might go to visit him one of these days, but not until after ... Next was another box, I forget what was in it, but no customs officer could stand listening to the stories that long!
(This was well before 9/11. Things might be different now, but I haven't tried to smuggle wine across the U.S.-Canada border since then. Try this at your own risk. If it doesn't work, you get back every penny you paid for the idea.)
Jun 30, 2008, 7:04 pm
#87
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 40
My grandparents were notorious smugglers, not sure how they did it.
Back in the days (10 years ago and farther), they'd visit us once a year, flying from eoul to O'Hare. They'd smuggle in all sorts of Kimchi, spices, dried meats and fish, clothing. They'd call us a week before leaving Seoul and ask us what we needed, be it clothes, bags, food, etc. and they'd bring it right in! I believe a few very large earthen pots came from Korea, as did a grandfather clock. Not sure how or why they even packed that along.
Funny story about smuggling: One of my friends was visiting his family. On his return trip back to school, his mom packed up some Daen-jang, the korean version of miso paste. Its quite dense and it is pretty smelly. He took it on his carry-on, all wrapped up, so it wouldn't smell. He didn't want to put it in his checked luggage because he was worried the tub might break. So, it goes through the X-Ray machine, and as he tells it, he knew something was wrong. They asked him to step aside, asked him about weapons and all that and asked him what was in the tub. He explained to them what it was, but I guess they made him open the tub for them. He was so embarassed at the stench! I guess they told him to quickly pack it up and keep moving!
Back in the days (10 years ago and farther), they'd visit us once a year, flying from eoul to O'Hare. They'd smuggle in all sorts of Kimchi, spices, dried meats and fish, clothing. They'd call us a week before leaving Seoul and ask us what we needed, be it clothes, bags, food, etc. and they'd bring it right in! I believe a few very large earthen pots came from Korea, as did a grandfather clock. Not sure how or why they even packed that along.
Funny story about smuggling: One of my friends was visiting his family. On his return trip back to school, his mom packed up some Daen-jang, the korean version of miso paste. Its quite dense and it is pretty smelly. He took it on his carry-on, all wrapped up, so it wouldn't smell. He didn't want to put it in his checked luggage because he was worried the tub might break. So, it goes through the X-Ray machine, and as he tells it, he knew something was wrong. They asked him to step aside, asked him about weapons and all that and asked him what was in the tub. He explained to them what it was, but I guess they made him open the tub for them. He was so embarassed at the stench! I guess they told him to quickly pack it up and keep moving!
Jun 30, 2008, 7:07 pm
#88
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Boston
Posts: 467
A Human Jaw Bone
How about a human jaw bone. And a pair of insulators from a concentration camp.
Souvenir Hunting in Hell: Tales of Theft and Shame in Poland and Peru http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot247/
Souvenir Hunting in Hell: Tales of Theft and Shame in Poland and Peru http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/...skthepilot247/
Jun 30, 2008, 7:36 pm
#89
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: HNL
Programs: AS MVPG
Posts: 236
The father of a college friend told me the story of how he had smuggled his college living expenses out of India. He was leaving for Boston by steamship and had to take it all in cash. Apparently there were some legal restrictions regarding taking cash out the country to which his aunt decided he shouldn't pay attention. She had him bring his luggage to the ship the day before it sailed so that it could be stored in his room. She insisted on packing his luggage for him. The next day, he was to take the cash in another bag and embark.
Needless to say, he was pretty nervous that day. He didn't encounter much trouble on the way out, luckily. He opened the bag when he got to his room and found that it was full of clothes. His aunt had packed all the money into the bags he had carried on board the day before. And because he hadn't known, he hadn't acted suspiciously then.
Needless to say, he was pretty nervous that day. He didn't encounter much trouble on the way out, luckily. He opened the bag when he got to his room and found that it was full of clothes. His aunt had packed all the money into the bags he had carried on board the day before. And because he hadn't known, he hadn't acted suspiciously then.
Jun 30, 2008, 8:01 pm
#90
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: SYD
Programs: I have commitment issues.
Posts: 357
A switchblade from Mexico - I thought I was so baaaad but was really just young and dumb. 
currency:
* Tried to pay for some items on a ferry w East German marks - didn't know I wasn't supposed to take them out of the country. (at least, that's what I think the cashier was saying to me.)
* I didn't know Cambodian riel were illegal. Oops. Ignorance is bliss.
Brought a few newspapers/studies/reports on human rights from the occupied territory back into Israel. Probably not illegal but glad they weren't spotted.
currency:
* Tried to pay for some items on a ferry w East German marks - didn't know I wasn't supposed to take them out of the country. (at least, that's what I think the cashier was saying to me.)
* I didn't know Cambodian riel were illegal. Oops. Ignorance is bliss.
Brought a few newspapers/studies/reports on human rights from the occupied territory back into Israel. Probably not illegal but glad they weren't spotted.