Although it’s illegal for a police officer to search your electronic devices without a warrant — even after you’re arrested — the Department of Homeland Security says warrantless searches of digital content are allowed at any U.S. border. Privacy advocates and civil rights organizations are now suing the agency, claiming that border protection officers should also have a warrant before they’re allowed to search through residents’ laptops and phones. [More]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Can Border Patrol Agents Search The Data Your Phone Stores In The Cloud?
By 7.13.17
While police must have a warrant to search someone’s phone in the U.S. — even after that person has been arrested — what can law enforcement do with gadgets seized at the border? For one thing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its officers are limited to searching phone content that is saved directly to the device, and not on the cloud — including social media. [More]
Customs Officials Put The Kibosh On Literal Snail Mail
By 6.20.17
It doesn’t have to be a slow news day to get a chuckle out of the news that U.S Customers and Border Protection officials recently stopped a shipment of literal snail mail from entering the country. [More]
Customs Agents Require Passengers On Domestic Flight To Show ID Before Exiting Plane
By 2.24.17
While you might be used to the sight of Customs and Border Protection agents checking the passports of travelers arriving in the United States from abroad, passengers on a recent domestic Delta Air Lines flight had the unusual experience of having to show identification before they could leave the plane. [More]
Dressing Marijuana Up As Fruit Is Apparently The New Trend In Illegal Drug Shipping
By 2.8.17
Drug-busting has had a particularly fruity theme in Texas lately, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have recently uncovered large loads of marijuana disguised as innocent produce. [More]
Computer Outage Leaves Thousands Of Travelers Waiting Hours To Go Through Customs
By 1.3.17
We are barely a few days into the new year and already a computer glitch has disrupted travel plans for thousands of people: a nationwide outage in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection system on Monday night resulted in travelers waiting for hours to enter the country on one of the busiest travel days of the year.. [More]
U.S. Customs Officials Find 755 Pounds Of Marijuana In Shipment Of Fresh Broccoli
By 3.24.16
Perhaps one might figure that one kind of green plant matter could easily pass as another kind, say, marijuana masquerading as a shipment of fresh broccoli. They’re the same color! But U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers weren’t born yesterday, and they can tell the difference between nutritious vegetables and weed. [More]
U.S. Customs Officials Seize More Than 16,000 Counterfeit Hoverboards In Chicago
By 1.28.16
The march against potentially unsafe hoverboards continued in Chicago this week, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized more than 16,000 motorized scooters bearing unauthorized trademark logos. [More]
Customs Officials Arrest Traveler With 9 Live Birds Hidden In His Pants, Fanny Pack At Miami Airport
By 1.27.16
As the saying goes: three birds in the pants are worth six in the fanny pack. Maybe that’s not quite the expression you’ve always heard, but it does pair nicely with a story out of Miami, where customs officials say a traveler was busted trying to smuggle nine live birds into the country. [More]
Customs Officials Seize A Ton Of Marijuana Disguised As Carrots
By 1.14.16 — Updated: 2.8.17
When it comes to trying to sneak drugs into the country, ne’er-do-wells keep coming up with creative ways to disguise their illicit goods, keeping law enforcement on their toes. Someone must’ve hired Bugs Bunny to do some sleuthing in Texas, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents discovered a shipment of carrots that included a few thousand orange things that weren’t of the vegetable variety. [More]
