When Customs takes your gear...why do they choose to look in the first place?

[UltimateFighter]

Ok dogs cannot sniff test as far as I know. so- how do they know whats inside without illegally opening private mail? Seems like a 4th ammendment issue unless they have probable cause. Without a dog or xray I can't think of why they would have cause to search. Anyone know?

I was thinking xray but then they would get all my shit and not just one out of 5....unless its a random xray.

[#1Wifey]

(Posted by Platinum)

IIRC they do xray packages they consider to be suspicious. I don't know all the criteria of a "suspicious package", but some are:
- going to a flagged address
- coming from certain countries
- mail from one coast to the other (in the US)
etc

Again, I'm far from an authority on the subject. That's just what I've read.

Platinum

[UltimateFighter]

well my box was from the uk and it looked pretty normal. Anything could have been in it, including 62 vials I guess.

[DF2003]

random x ray maybe a vial was leaking, flagged addr etc

[UltimateFighter]

well we are flagged now for sure but 2 more orders have made it through. I think it would be cool to watch those fockers work one day and see if there is any rhyme or reason to what they do.

[bermich]

Maybe its a monday wednesday friday thing. Monday people dont give a shit about whats going on at work. Wednesday they put a little more effort into it. Friday they just cant wait to get home so they dont put in that extra effort.
Tuesday and Thursday, you are just doomed if you are kicking in illegal crap.

[ironfist]

customs doesn't need a warrant to open your mail. They can open each and every piece of mail (if they choose to) that is coming into the US. It's a safety issue...