Anyone here ever been detained by Customs?

[SevenSamurai]

I had my stuff searched on the chunnel train from London to Brussels. I had about 80kg of climbing and mountaineering gear. They confiscated two small pocket knives because they had locking blades and I guess that's illegal in the UK. They obviously felt foolish taking the small knives but letting me board with ice axes, crampons, snow-saw etc.

And just this spring I had a novel confiscated in Lhasa, Tibet at Chinese customs. It was considered prohibited material because it mentioned the Dalai Lama. Paranoid weirdos imo.

haha, those damn Chinese, I think I've listed on here that the coolest thing I've done was traveling with the Dalai Lama in 2008 doing a documentary. He's fantastic -I still pen pal with a few of his monks -who get this -their parents were monks before them for the Dalai lama before fleeing Tibet. It's a family career.

I've had a tiny leatherman squirt confiscated while carrying on a Fender Telecaster at the same time
which in your mind is a better weapon? lulz

Last week in Dallas, they took a draftsman multi-tool with no blades from me which pissed me off because I got it working on a small video project for NASA and it said Jet Propulsion Laboratory on it.

 

[SevenSamurai]

Our neo-Con Prime Minister is quite happy to push us towards an authoritarian Big Brother state at the US' behest. It's getting pretty ridiculous.
I know, I know, "they're just doing their job", but where is the line?

Do you know what the "depictions of pain" part was all about?

 

[WinterSoldier]

When I came back from Amsterdam a few years ago they detained me and ask me a shit load of questions before releasing me finally.

 

[Troublesome10]

Do you know what the "depictions of pain" part was all about?

No idea, but there has been a push for heightened electronic surveillance and more power to prosecute for online crimes lately, and the issue they use to galvanize support is child pornography. Anyone paying attention the fine print will see this as a smokescreen though; it's an excuse used to widen the dragnet of our own NSA-like spy agency CSIS. I assume it was something to do with that. When did this happen?

 

[SevenSamurai]

I got looked upon with suspicion and had to wait around while they cleared me with the higher-ups over the phone when I was going to SE Asia from Toronto. She wouldn't tell me what was up, I only managed to get out of her that it was "something with your name".

I can tell you what was going on though- my dad is Guyanese, but he has a very common Muslim name- one he probably shares with some obscure Muslim terrorist. He gets harassed nearly every time he flies. Been stripped to his socks, had his laptop completely searched and in general been treated like shit. This is the outcome of the phony "war on terror", where every Muslim is automatically guilty, and it trickled down to me, even though I'm white and not Muslim. Because he travels so much, it had become such a nuisance that he had to write to the attorney general's office to get himself cleared in the future. The last few times he's been treated more-or-less like a normal citizen and human being, but it took a lot of effort to get there.

After September 11th I kept having to go to an Airport prescreening room (Mostly full of Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, etc in there waiting around) then strip searched and escorted in a golf cart to the gate and put on the plane first.

happened about 3 times -those poor Jains -never hurt a fly and they were getting lumped in....lulz.

 

[SevenSamurai]

no idea, but there has been a push for heightened electronic surveillance and more power to prosecute for online crimes lately, and the issue they use to galvanize support is child pornography. Anyone paying attention the fine print will see this as a smokescreen though; it's an excuse used to widen the dragnet of our own nsa-like spy agency csis. I assume it was something to do with that. When did this happen?

2010

 

[Troublesome10]

After September 11th I kept having to go to an Airport prescreening room (Mostly full of Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, etc in there waiting around) then strip searched and escorted in a golf cart to the gate and put on the plane first.

happened about 3 times -those poor Jains -never hurt a fly and their getting lumped in....lulz.

I feel like they specifically higher gullible, semi-intelligent and completely patriotic people to do these jobs (airport security, border/customs officers), because they are easily indoctrinated and not capable of understanding the "subtle" differences between these groups. It serves the security apparatus well to create an aura of fear for everyone.

 

[SevenSamurai]

I'm not sure how "files" on people work -but I had a bad US one for years.

I was rejected for several government temp positions in my 20s because of the background check (literally Xmas help jobs etc) and kept getting extra detention and secondary screenings in Airports when the ticketing agent brought up my name.

I believe my name was associated with a few roommates who went on to commit felonies and such (drug distribution and one breaking into govt servers) but was told I could not find out why I was getting rejected because of background check without getting a lawyer and petitioning/suing the federal government for the info -which I was told doesn't work most of the time.

Anyways so I didn't because I had no money to speak of at the time -anyways years later (about 8 years ago) -I had a project which required a basic security clearance -which took a whole year to get, feds conducting interviews, contacting friends, teachers etc -but I ended up getting it somehow after they realized I was no threat -just some depressed 20 something back in the day(I still can't believe it) and have never had those problems again with security and the Government.

 

[TeTe]

Driving into Canada, I had my car searched and they ran a background check on me.

Flying back onto Miami after going to Jamaica, customs rummaged through my one bag that didnt have coffee and Cuban cigars in it. Didn't ask question about that one.

 

[Josh]

After I was flagged, I indeed got kicked aside for the extra scrutiny re-entering Canada. After a few times I was starting to get ornery.

"Do you have anything sharp in your luggage?"

"Yep, lots of sharp things, canister shape things, probably some fuel residue. Maybe I should unpack it for you."

After going through one bag of climbing gear, the lady said she didn't need to go through the other two bags, let me go, and I haven't been kicked aside since.

 

[Amerikuracana]

Yep, twice.

 

[SevenSamurai]

After I was flagged, I indeed got kicked aside for the extra scrutiny re-entering Canada. After a few times I was starting to get ornery.

"Do you have anything sharp in your luggage?"

"Yep, lots of sharp things, canister shape things, probably some fuel residue. Maybe I should unpack it for you."

After going through one bag of climbing gear, the lady said she didn't need to go through the other two bags, let me go, and I haven't been kicked aside since.

Do you suppose once you've cleared customs a few times internationally that the screening flags eventually disappear?

Always wondered about how it works.

 

[SevenSamurai]

Driving into Canada, I had my car searched and they ran a background check on me.

Flying back onto Miami after going to Jamaica, customs rummaged through my one bag that didnt have coffee and Cuban cigars in it. Didn't ask question about that one.

My coworkers reroll their Cubans in Dominican wrappers before re-entering.

seems like a lot of trouble for a slap on the wrist.

 

[SevenSamurai]

Oh, 3 years ago I went to Tijauna -simply because people said it was too dangerous -so I had to go see it.

everything was mostly boarded up/closed on Revolution and I was the only Gringo there except for some fat white chicks from Portland and LA who were there for Lapband surgery that I met in a bar.

It got sketchy for certain -especially at night but I was there for a purpose (no,..not pills or the donky show...lulz) to score deals on classical guitars.


I bought 3 guitars and a bunch of bullshit trinkets for the family and coworkers and then proceeded through the American checkpoint back into the US> It was total joke -no dogs, no search, no questions, and I was carrying 3 trash bags of stuff (a guitar in each). I just had to present my passport and put my trash bags through the metal detector.

I can't believe how easy it was to get back in.

 

[Josh]

Do you suppose once you've cleared customs a few times internationally that the screening flags evetually disappear?

Always wondered about how it works.

At the initial screening they ask you a couple of questions, where were you, how long were you gone, did you travel alone, what do you do for a living? Then they scribble something on your entry card and you go collect your luggage. Depending what they scribble, you get kicked aside after picking up your luggage.

So the first time when they took my throwing stars, the guy said I would get searched every time after. And indeed, the next time I came back from Asia, I got kicked aside. So the third time, when I talked to the first screener, I thought I would ask some questions.

"I know I'm flagged and you're going to scribble something on my card that gets me the extra screening."

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, you know exactly what I'm talking about, you're the guy that scribbles something that gets me the extra screening. How many times am I going to have to put up with this?"

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look dude, I pay your salary, I'm just asking some simple questions, am I going to get the red flag forever?"

"I can't comment on that."

"Fine, just scribble whatever and let me get my luggage."

That was the time that I got kicked aside but she only searched one bag before letting me go. Never been kicked aside since. I think getting in their face about it made them take the red flag down.

 

[monkey king**]

yep, after a cruise to Mexico. not because of me though.

 

[Roxxo]

My mom was once. Her shirt had some shiny/glittery things on it and that scanner that the TSA uses saw something and they pulled her aside and the glitter on her shirt tested positive for bomb residue.

 

[bcordova]

When I was coming home from Ireland earlier this year I was randomly selected and pulled out of line. I kept making a racial profiling joke because I have red hair a red beard and green eyes. They let me go after I got molested by a TSA agent.

 

[SevenSamurai]

When I was coming home from Ireland earlier this year I was randomly selected and pulled out of line. I kept making a racial profiling joke because I have red hair a red beard and green eyes. They let me go after I got molested by a TSA agent.

They were searching for your lucky charms..lulz.

 

[blink_man182]

Me and my buddy were detained going into U.S at the Fort Erie/Buffalo boarder a few years back. We were driving over on a Sunday during the summer to do some shopping since beers, shoes and other clothing is quite a bit cheaper than it is in Canada. Got held inside and questioned for about and hour while they searched my car. I'm sure they had good intentions but they didn't believe our reasoning for heading into the U.S on a Sunday...