Smuggled goods
 

Just seeing what you may have smuggled back from Europe, whether illegal or unusual. Cuban Cigars? Food stuffs? Extra vino? And did you get caught (if so, what happened).

Careful! This post may be a plant by the US Custom Service.

All of the above, not usually at the same time.<BR><BR>No.

We have brought Cuban cigars back from Europe several times. Dead easy. First, remove the paper rings identifying them as Cuban. We put them in an envelope and mailed them to a friend--there's no law against sending Cuban cigar rings! If you buy more than a couple of cigars, the shop is usually happy to give you an empty Dominican Republic cigar box to hold them. Simple. (Customs has looked over our cigar box a couple of times and passed them through.)

Are you proud of yourself?

"there's no law against sending Cuban cigar rings!"<BR><BR>Yes, there is. The rules that ban Americans from purchasing Cuban cigars also ban the purchase of cigar bands. <BR><BR>"
IMPORTING CUBAN-ORIGIN GOODS OR SERVICES - Goods or services of Cuban origin may not be imported into the United States either directly or through third countries, such as Canada or Mexico. The only exceptions are: $100 worth of Cuban merchandise which may be brought into the United States as accompanied baggage by authorized<BR>travelers arriving from Cuba; publications, artwork, or other informational materials; merchandise other than tobacco or alcohol and not in commercial quantities carried as accompanied baggage by foreign persons<BR>legally entering the United States; and merchandise for which a specific license has been received."<BR><BR>http://www.treas.gov/ofac/t11cuba.pdf

Come on! The OFAC rules are designed to stop you from buying Cuban goods with US funds, not to stop you from mailing worthless Cuban products for which you did not pay. Let's say you (US citizen & resident) have a 10-year-old son who collects cigar rings, and you go visit you German-citizen-and-resident cousin or pen-pal or former college roommate in Berlin and mail your son 5 cigar rings your friend happens to have lying around the house? It's leagal. Check the OFAC fine print if you don't believe me.<BR><BR>Now, more importantly - don't you all think this Cuban Embargo thing is just a bit ... well, silly and hypocritical? Why is it again that Americans can't trade with Cuba? The Cuban government is worse than, say, the govt. of Israel or Liberia or KSA? Yes? Just how, again? <BR><BR><BR>Thanks.

I can only smile about those people from the Land of the Free who can not even import cigars legally.

The Land Of The Free is actually a bit of a police state. You can be drafted into the military to give your life in a war at age 18, and yet you cannot buy alcohol even wine and beer until age 21! And we have way over a million of our citizens in prison, many for minor drug offenses. Unless you're rich and powerful, then you're free to have a kindler, gentler justice system. USA is a great country, but many things are rotten, but just don't try to point that out to many Americans who have an archaic love it or leave it (rather than improve it) mentality.

John we are the land of the free and we boycott things from Cuba a reason.

Benny: you are painfully ignorant of military policy. Only Congress can inact the draft so you are wrong on that issue. As for the rest of the posters....shame on you for smuggling stuff and then posting this self rightous drivel encouraging others to do the same or brag about it. Whatever happens to the people who get caught with this stuff is the consequence of their actions....

Why is it that some of you americans seem to be so real and sensible and some of you appear to be utter wankers!<BR>Cigar smugglers are not the major problem you have with your society, and this is not an anti american post, just that some of you take self rightous to the utter limit !

Marc,<BR>Guess again. We spoke with a lawyer about those regs and were told they could easily be considered as artwork (some of them have quite beautiful designs.). If Andy Warhol could consider Campbell's Soup Cans artworthy, then someone else could think the same of Cuban cigar rings. Or they could say the rings would be used as material for artwork (a collage, for example). <BR>

We're not self-righteous or braggarts. Nope posted a question and we answered it. We don't even smoke! On one occasion, the cigars were for an 80-year-old neighbor who fancied passing out Cuban cigars to friends in celebration of the birth of his first great-grandson. Another was for a cigar afficionado who wanted to see if the Cuban cigars lived up to their hype. If we had gotten caught, we would have paid the fine and given up the goods without protest. But we weren't. And that's the truth. Ptthh!! (thank you, Lily Tomlin)<BR>xx