Hobby Lobby — home to glitter glue, crepe paper, and distress paint — was also apparently in the business of acquiring ancient Mesopotamian relics. However, the crafty retailer says it didn’t quite understand all the ins and outs of the whole “importing artifacts from Iraq” process and has agreed to forfeit thousands of items, including clay cuneiform tablets, that the federal government says were smuggled into the country. [More]
customs
Hobby Lobby Agrees To Turn Over Thousands Of Ancient Iraqi Artifacts That Were Smuggled Into U.S.
By 7.5.17 — Updated: 7.6.17
Woman’s Lawyer Explains Why Dead Husband’s Entrails Were In Her Checked Baggage
By 9.28.16
Of all the things one might expect customs officials to find in a traveler’s luggage, preserved intestines might not be your everyday occurrence. That’s why airport workers in Graz, Austria wanted to check in with the police when they found the entrails of a woman’s dead husband in her checked baggage. [More]
Oscar-Winning Director Of Snowden Documentary Trying To Find Out Why She’s Been Detained At Airports So Much
By 7.13.15
Laura Poitras recently won the Academy Award for CITIZENFOUR, her documentary on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, but the director claims that she’s long been hassled by U.S. federal authorities for years, resulting in multiple unmerited airport detentions. Now she’s suing the government to find out exactly why. [More]
Man Caught At Chinese Customs Wearing 94 iPhones As Long Underwear
By 1.12.15
Even though the newest and freshest iPhones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, are now legally available in mainland China, hauling them over the border from Hong Kong is still a profitable enterprise. Apparently. According to a report in Chinese media, an enterprising young man created a plastic suit that held 94 iPhones, strapping them around his arms, legs, hips, and torso. [More]
Homeland Security Looking To Build Massive License Plate Tracking System
By 2.19.14
In news that is both disturbing and not at all surprising, the Department of Homeland Security is currently asking private contractors to bid on a system that would create a National License Plate Recognition database that could allow various forms of law enforcement to track the movements of drivers, whether they are suspected of a crime or just going to buy a Big Gulp at 7-Eleven. [More]
Chobani Yogurt Meant For Olympic Athletes Will Go To Food Pantries Instead
By 2.13.14
The brave, chilly athletes representing the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia certainly need their protein. That’s why Chobani, maker of tasty strained yogurt products, was sending a large shipment of the stuff to Team USA in the Olympic Village. U.S. officials and Chobani lost their standoff with Russian bureaucracy, though, and the yogurt will not be allowed to enter the country. [More]
Customs Cutbacks Result In Several Hours Of Waiting In Line For Some Travelers
By 7.25.13
Going through customs after an international flight can sometimes be a hassle, but the line for passengers arriving back home in their country of residence usually moves much faster than those visitors from other nations. Try telling that to American travelers landing at DFW International in Texas, where some have spent hours and hours waiting in line just to clear customs. [More]
When Customs Seizes The Cocaine And Meth You Sent Via FedEx, Don’t Call And Ask Why
By 11.30.12
In general, we support complaining to a company when you didn’t get what you paid for, no matter how small the amount. It’s only fair. Even we have to admit, though, that a California man might have been better off not calling to check on the whereabouts of the packages he sent through FedEx to the Philippines. Law enforcement is glad that he did, though. Prosecutors say that the boxes contained three kilograms of methamphetamine and one hundred grams of cocaine. [More]
Family Fined $300 Over 5 Pieces Of Fruit In Backpack
By 8.12.11
A family of four weren’t too pleased when they got off their flight from Israel to New Jersey to find that they had to pay a fine of $300 for five pieces of fruit — three cucumbers, an apple and a tomato — stashed in a backpack, even though the Customs agent could have chosen to just destroy the food. [More]
Feds Find $9 Million In Opium Inside Adorable Acrylic Kitty Cats At JFK
By 2.18.11
Customs agents at JFK International Airport in New York City have seized $9 million of pure opium hidden inside a shipment of acrylic cats. [More]
Guy Hassled For Refusing To Answer Custom Cops' Questions Responds To 700 Of Yours
By 9.13.10
The American traveler who wouldn’t answer the questions of the passport control officer upon re-entry to these shores beyond the legally required minimum has posted a 10-point response to the over seven-hundred comments his story received. Long-story short: “The only absolute and unqualified right of citizenship is to residence within the territorial boundaries of the United States; a citizen cannot be either deported or denied reentry.” U.S. v. Valentine. [More]
Guy Won't Answer Customs Cops' Questions Because He Doesn't Have To. Hilarity Ensues.
By 9.10.10
If you love our recurring posts about people who won’t comply with stores demanding to see their receipts, you’ll go Lady GaGa over the American citizen who refuses to answer customs cops’ questions beyond the legally required bare minimum. [More]
Australia Customs Guys Live The Dream, Search Computers For Porn
By 5.21.10
People are up in arms that Australian customs officials have taken it upon themselves to go porn-hunting on travelers’ computers, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. If they find anything, they’ll confiscate the dirty stuff in order to prevent you from exporting it to the untainted island. [More]
What Your Homeland Security Travel File Looks Like
By 1.6.09
Homeland Security’s dossier on all your the travel you’ve ever taken looks something like this.
Celebrity Cruises Won't Let Passenger Leave Ship And Go Home
By 8.20.08
Hank went on a cruise with his family to celebrate his grandmother’s 75th birthday. Because of a change in his work schedule, Hank had to leave early to return home to California. But when you’re a guest of Celebrity Cruises, YOU ARE A GUEST OF CELEBRITY CRUISES. There is no “return home” for you! Be quiet! Eat waffles!
Court Rules Customs Agents Can Collect Data From Laptops & Cellphones Without Cause
By 5.7.08
Some visitors and citizens of the United States may be shocked to learn that their computers, cell phones and data devices are now subject to search and data retrieval upon entry into the U.S., even without cause or suspicion. On April 19th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that all computers and data devices are the same as luggage in that they can be searched without cause, and that all collected data may be stored indefinitely. More, inside…
Do Your Homework Before Going On Vacation Or Customs Will Seize Your Goat
By 5.3.08
Customs seizes 4,300 items each day from unsuspecting travelers, so read up on their regulations before jaunting off on vacation or they’ll seize your tasty goat when you return. Customs regulations aren’t as arbitrary as they seem, but they can’t be deciphered by common sense alone.
US Customs Helps Itself To Your Electronics And Private Data
By 2.7.08
A few months earlier in the same airport, a tech engineer returning from a business trip to London objected when a federal agent asked him to type his password into his laptop computer. “This laptop doesn’t belong to me,” he remembers protesting. “It belongs to my company.” Eventually, he agreed to log on and stood by as the officer copied the Web sites he had visited, said the engineer, a U.S. citizen who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of calling attention to himself.
