Customs confiscated entire order!

rhines81 · March 31, 2016

Friends of mine have ordered so many 'legal/illegal' items from overseas without issues that I think it is just a matter of 'X' shipments out of 'so many' that actually get sampled by customs. Personally, I will not order anything from out of the country, but I travel extensively and if I find some pepper or tomato seeds that spark my interest, which is not very often, I just hand carry them back with me and have never had an issue.

Scooty · March 31, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhines81

Friends of mine have ordered so many 'legal/illegal' items from overseas without issues that I think it is just a matter of 'X' shipments out of 'so many' that actually get sampled by customs. Personally, I will not order anything from out of the country, but I travel extensively and if I find some pepper or tomato seeds that spark my interest, which is not very often, I just hand carry them back with me and have never had an issue.

Same. The people that always get caught are those with a like a half pound of seed. That lights up on an x-ray really really well.

1 seed packet or 20 seeds stuffed into a bookmark, not so much.

ginger2778 · April 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhines81

Friends of mine have ordered so many 'legal/illegal' items from overseas without issues that I think it is just a matter of 'X' shipments out of 'so many' that actually get sampled by customs. Personally, I will not order anything from out of the country, but I travel extensively and if I find some pepper or tomato seeds that spark my interest, which is not very often, I just hand carry them back with me and have never had an issue.

Please, hand carry how? If you feel more comfortable, pm this info. I travel too, but I see those cute beagles in the airport!

drew51 · April 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Please, hand carry how? If you feel more comfortable, pm this info. I travel too, but I see those cute beagles in the airport!

Are they not for drugs? If a dog smells for drugs, it's not going to detect other plants.

ginger2778 · April 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew51

Are they not for drugs? If a dog smells for drugs, it's not going to detect other plants.

See, that's just it, I dont know what all they are trained for. Is it only drugs? Dogs are pretty intelligent and trainable.

bower · April 1, 2016

Our local TV station has been running a 'reality' type show called "Border Patrol" I think. Typical low budget filler of course, but I've watched it a couple of times and it is an eye opener. Agricultural and food products are seriously a no-no, a big part of their searches, and yes they have dogs trained to sniff for ag products, both meats and vegetables.

Yes there are suitcases full of sausages

but I've also seen people busted for garlic in the luggage. Anything grown elsewhere that could carry a disease or pest that might find its way back into the field is strictly prohibited. If not declared, huge fines apply!

Now and then they run the US version of the same, and if anything they are more suspicious and picky than on our side. Although there may have been less 'food-related' stories in the one I saw.

However with all of the "ag" busts and sniffing, I've never seen anyone busted for seeds.

I just don't think a small packet of dry cleaned seed is an issue, although something like beans could be, since beetles can hide inside em.

drew51 · April 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

See, that's just it, I dont know what all they are trained for. Is it only drugs? Dogs are pretty intelligent and trainable.

Yes, you're right, but odds are they are for drugs. I always thought of just having a few seeds loose in your pocket. You just need enough to start one plant, 3 or 4.

rhines81 · April 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Please, hand carry how? If you feel more comfortable, pm this info. I travel too, but I see those cute beagles in the airport!

For the most part I'll just stick the seeds in an envelope and put it in my laptop bag. I too see the Beagles and German Shepherds at the airports but never worry about it even if by some remote chance I would be questioned. Not that I have more than a dozen or so. A couple of weeks ago I brought in a whole dried pepper from a guy's ristra in Pisa, Italy (even sent some seeds out to a guy on here in trade

) I had the pepper just wrapped in a napkin. I think my worst offense ever was bringing a couple pounds of vacuum wrapped cheese home from Switzerland.

I will warn everyone about returning to the USA through a connection in Iceland. Last I was there the complete contents of all passengers carry-ons were hand search, emptied out on tables. They found a tiny bic lighter in my laptop bag that I haven't seen in years (probably had 250K airmiles on it). They confiscated that plus matchbooks and then I asked the guy how I would smoke when I got to the US. As he was repacking my items, he showed me a book of matches that he gave me back and made sure I saw where he put it (duh!). Oh yea, after security, there were several stores selling lighters.

March 31, 2016	#1
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	Friends of mine have ordered so many 'legal/illegal' items from overseas without issues that I think it is just a matter of 'X' shipments out of 'so many' that actually get sampled by customs. Personally, I will not order anything from out of the country, but I travel extensively and if I find some pepper or tomato seeds that spark my interest, which is not very often, I just hand carry them back with me and have never had an issue.

April 1, 2016	#6
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,793	Our local TV station has been running a 'reality' type show called "Border Patrol" I think. Typical low budget filler of course, but I've watched it a couple of times and it is an eye opener. Agricultural and food products are seriously a no-no, a big part of their searches, and yes they have dogs trained to sniff for ag products, both meats and vegetables. Yes there are suitcases full of sausages but I've also seen people busted for garlic in the luggage. Anything grown elsewhere that could carry a disease or pest that might find its way back into the field is strictly prohibited. If not declared, huge fines apply! Now and then they run the US version of the same, and if anything they are more suspicious and picky than on our side. Although there may have been less 'food-related' stories in the one I saw. However with all of the "ag" busts and sniffing, I've never seen anyone busted for seeds. I just don't think a small packet of dry cleaned seed is an issue, although something like beans could be, since beetles can hide inside em.