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Confiscation!!  OOPS!!

J

Jeff

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2001
Messages
469
Had my firt box taken recently. Anyone else ever had this happen? They give you several options but I am sticking with the "choose to do nothing option" The real bummer was they got my RyJ exhibiton No4 and I only had a few of them left. Another box also got through 2 days later from the same vendor so I guess I didnt go on any black list so to speak. Unfortunately they were the Sancho panza non plus which I already had a box of. Ive also heard of customs imposing fines up to 2 years after the confiscation. Anyone else ever heard this? I think I read it on CF or ASC.
 
Jeff, sorry about your lost box. Check CigarWeekly it had a thread on that subject recently.
 
Sorry to hear that. I've had it happen to me twice, so i know how it feels. At least you got one out of two boxes.
 
Bummer man! I've been lucky (knock on wood) haven't got my cherry busted yet. But i read something on CF as well, that letters are coming up to 1 year later. With the recent confiscations i have not tried for a couple months. And the Hummie is showin' it. Want to get rid of a few of those Sancho NP's? LMK
 
Just ignore the letter. I have heard about someone getting fined for items seized 2 years ago, and from what I hear they plan to fight it. sorry for your loss.
 
On a side note, if you ever travel to Cuba, and US Customs asked where you have been, don't tell them Cuba. I met this one lady who just loves going to the island. Well she is the type of person who just refuses to lie about her trips to Cuba, so she tells them she's been in Cuba. You would think she would learn, she has been fined &#3610,000 each time she got caught. Then again, she is filthy rich and does not give a poo poo.So they do fine people, just never heard of anyone actually getting fined for receiving stuff for personal consumption.
 
SLR...there was a thread on CF a while back stating that he received a fine notice from confiscation 2 years ago. I think he did nothing but it was still quite unsettling to receive such correspondence.
 
They fine you, but to get caught is a tough thing to do. How on earth would they know if you flew from Mexico? I lived in Puebla, Mexico last summer and met an American professor who had recently traveled to the forbidden island. He has duel citizenship so he can go to Cuba whenever he wants. He wanted them to stamp his passport in Cuba and they REFUSED! I'd never break the law and go:) but if one were to go, chances of a free getaway are higher than in Vegas.
 
            (As an Addendum to this Topic)     I stated in one thread that when one tries to bring Cuban cigars into the country and gets stopped, and the cigars are confiscated, that person's name is forever stored in the U.S. Customs computers.     Last Friday, I had my semi-annual dental appointment. My dentist overheard my discussion of Cigar Pass with the hygienist, who I grew up with. My dentist is an interesting guy, who flies a WWl biplane, hang glides, sky dives, and sails. He told me about a trip that he took to the Caribbean on a fishing/sailing trip. It seems that they were smoking some Cohibas on the boat while fishing. My dentist hap-hazardly threw them into the back storage compartment of the rented private plane for his return flight to the USA. He made no attempt to hide them, because he basically forgot about them. US Customs asked him if he had any embargoed goods, such as cigars. He had forgotten about the Cohibas, so he said...NAH! US Customers officer found them in plain view in the planes storage compartment! He said that there was a long interrogation asking whether he had flown to Cuba or not. Whew! :shocked: Moral of this Story...and the information that I want to pass along...is that he said that everytime he reenters the USA now, his name pops up on the US Customs computer screen as a past offender and they check his luggage from top to bottom. So I HAD heard correctly!
Sam  :cool:
 
Wow Sam, good story. Sucks to be him! I hate when I luggage is checked for stuff. It has only happened once and it took FOREVER!
 
Guess I gotta stop trying to get my ISOMs from out of country. Just got nailed for the fourth time. So does that make me number one on their computer?
 
That's too bad Wolfman, my friend. :(Question: Are all of the cigars that were confiscated shipped from an country in particular, or from different countries? Meaning was the retailer from Spain, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, etc, etc. I am asking because I have heard that even though 'gars are cheaper from Spain...they seize them at a much higher rate from Espana. Email me if you would be so kind. Mahalo nui loa!What's the Hawaiian phrase for something happening that is bad? And don't say, "Bummer." LOL!
Sam  :cool:
 
They were from three different countries. Hong Kong, Australia and England (twice). It's "bummer, Dude". I don't know, but I'll find out.
 
Guess me and my brother are gonna be fighting now!!! LOL.There is no way that customs puts your name in a database and stops everything that is coming in to you. Perhaps in extreme cases if they think you have flown to cuba and are smuggling but not if they had caught you with a box of cigars. If that were the case it would take months for packages to get to you from overseas!! My original post was in april of this year. As I said in that post, 2 days later a package arrived from the same vendor. A month later I ordered a couple of boxes of Cohiba robustos from the same vendor. Sure enough got them both. At best it is a random occurance. When the box in April was taken it was because a plane was rerouted from Miami to NY. There were a hundred people or so that got boxes taken. This was in 1 day on 1 plane from 1 vendor at 1 airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Theres probably 25000 boxes a week that come into this country the odds are very small that a box will be taken. Even through the hoof and mouth thing earlier this year I hadnt curbed my spending overseas and still to date only this one box has been taken.There was a recent herf here at a local shop in which 2 customs agents were present(they were cigar smokers) When asked about why they go after something so trivial as cigars, their response was that they usually come acroos them by accident. They have much better things to do with their time than go after cigars. Think about it!!! If cigars were a priority then the first thing the Government would do is target all the vendors that advertise all over the net on predominantly US cigar sites!!! Also there would be many more confiscations than there are if cigars were truly a priority on customs list. If My name was on a list somewhere theres no way I would be getting the number of boxes that I do. I can assure you my wife is more concerned about my purchases and packages than customs is.If you buy enough cigars you will eventually get one taken but I really believe the chances are low. 1 in 50-100 boxes will get confiscated. If you read the boards across the net you will certainly see that there are several people that have had more than 1 box taken. They are still smoking isoms. The best advice to newbies....Find a vendor that doesnt ship in original boxes and removes the bands. Make sure he also sells dominican cigars. If customs questions the package the vendor just has to state that they are of dominican origin and the box is then sent to you. Im not trying to start a war here but lets not get everyone paranoid over a box of cigars!!
 
It is true that Customs doesn't catch every package that comes in. I've had packages successfully make it to my door in between the sniped ones. In my case, I just got tired of wondering whether the next package will or not. But then again...
 
I think you guys have it much tougher on the Islands wolfman!! From what i hear customs is a bit more thorough there!!
 
Yeah. we're the gateway for drugs from Asia into the U.S. So, customs here is extra tough on foreign packages.
 
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