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I've been pointed out at airports by dogs, but their handlers questioned me briefly and moved on. Apparently the dogs consider fruit to be contraband, and I don't even have to open my suitcase.
According to some good sources, dogs are wrong as much as 84% of the time. Essentially, they respond to cues from their handlers when to alert. See http://reason.com/blog/2013/02/27/how-e ... ics-detectJoy wrote:From what I hear via the grapevine, "these guys"--the cute doggies sniffing for drugs --don't have that good a record for accuracy. One of the last times I went to prison, the lady in front of me in the visitation line was accused by the drug dog as having drugs. He faced away from her, cutting one furtive glance at her, looking a bit guilty as he did so.The woman was questioned interminably (the whole line had to wait on this), and then strip/body cavity searched, and finally brought out for more questioning. She said she worked at a bank, so the conclusion was that she should wear no articles of clothing from work without laundering them first. I wash my hands if I've handled money before driving to prison.
I've been pointed out at airports by dogs, but their handlers questioned me briefly and moved on. Apparently the dogs consider fruit to be contraband, and I don't even have to open my suitcase.
Indeed, the #1 enforcement priority in Australia is keeping out plant and animal diseases and pests. It's also something that a lot of people flagrantly violate. I personally don't understand why someone would travel with a suitcase full of meat and seeds that aren't allowed in the country, but people do so every day.Judas Maccabeus wrote:\U.S. Customs and Border enforcement is not about money these days. It is about terrorism, drugs and agricultural pests.
Actually if you see a beagle, it is not drugs they are looking for, these guys are exclusively trained to sniff out agricultural and food contraband. If you are coming into the states from abroad, fruit IS contraband. These guys are at my local airport, and they seem to be good. In the customs line they hit one with fruit, and a guy carrying bushmeat, with the hair still on it!Joy wrote:From what I hear via the grapevine, "these guys"--the cute doggies sniffing for drugs --don't have that good a record for accuracy. One of the last times I went to prison, the lady in front of me in the visitation line was accused by the drug dog as having drugs. He faced away from her, cutting one furtive glance at her, looking a bit guilty as he did so.The woman was questioned interminably (the whole line had to wait on this), and then strip/body cavity searched, and finally brought out for more questioning. She said she worked at a bank, so the conclusion was that she should wear no articles of clothing from work without laundering them first. I wash my hands if I've handled money before driving to prison.
I've been pointed out at airports by dogs, but their handlers questioned me briefly and moved on. Apparently the dogs consider fruit to be contraband, and I don't even have to open my suitcase.
With duty rates as low as they are, and the exemption so high, it amazes me why anyone would try to smuggle stuff. Last time I tried to pay, I was informed that my overage would attract a 5% rate, and much of it was exempt because it was made in a country we have a free trade agreement with(Jordan). When the amount to collect got down to below 5$, he said, they really don't fool with this small of amounts, so just go......appleman2006 wrote:Probably mostly true but try taking more than your allotted goods across and you will find out real soon that money still plays a factor.
Okay, I must have been on a domestic trip; it was years ago, and airports tend to blur together. But I was about to leave Johannesburg or Cape Town once, and was told to chuck my liquids even though it was bought in the airport. So I stood there and drank three bottles of water and one of juice--the latter could have gotten me in trouble, yikes. Of course I paid for it later, since there was a long holdup in the line, and I had to leave precipitously.Judas Maccabeus wrote:
Actually if you see a beagle, it is not drugs they are looking for, these guys are exclusively trained to sniff out agricultural and food contraband. If you are coming into the states from abroad, fruit IS contraband. These guys are at my local airport, and they seem to be good. In the customs line they hit one with fruit, and a guy carrying bushmeat, with the hair still on it!
They sometimes wear a little green jacket saying "protecting america's agriculture." Google "Beagle Brigade " if you are interested.
Drug dogs are another story, so I am told.
J.M.
Can you say more? Why were they turned away?silentreader wrote:Just in the past week or so an Ontario pastor and his wife were heading to MBS where he was to serve as third term principal. They were turned back at the border. They went home, and the MBS board hired a lawyer to get them better paperwork. With new paperwork in hand, they went back to the border several days later and were turned back again.