Nothing can happen? Well, they can confiscate...they can deny access to the U.S...they can make you sit in some little room for hours just to hassle you...I wouldn't recommend being brash about it...it's still an prohibited item here, so to say "nothing" can happen is bit misleading...
jag
quote:
"I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." ~ Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 1116 | Location: Michigan | Registered: September 15, 2006
Originally posted by jagmqt: Nothing can happen? Well, they can confiscate...they can deny access to the U.S...they can make you sit in some little room for hours just to hassle you...I wouldn't recommend being brash about it...it's still an prohibited item here, so to say "nothing" can happen is bit misleading...
jag
if you remove all the bands, therefore making sure your sticks cant be identified as cubans, what can they do to you for bringing some "dominicans" or "nicaraguan" sticks from one country to another?
they would have to prove without a doubt that they are post-embargo cuban cigars, which is virtually impossible........
be as brash as you want....... unless your bringing a crazy amout of boxes with you, you probably wont even get stopped....... and if you do, like i said, just tell them that they are dominican cigars, and there is nothing they can do to you unless you confess........
dont worry about it, leave the bands and boxes at home, and enjoy your trip to the u.s........ if you find yourself in ny, shoot me an email....
................................................................................. "whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well...."
Posts: 521 | Location: nj.....ny | Registered: September 18, 2007
hmmm, that room. I had to sit in that room with 3 of my friends in Niagara Falls on our way to a weekend bachelor party. They brought the dogs out and searched the heck out of our suv. But, that was trying to get into Canada. What a great weekend.
Posts: 183 | Location: Rochester, PA | Registered: October 03, 2007
Originally posted by LightMeUP: hmmm, that room. I had to sit in that room with 3 of my friends in Niagara Falls on our way to a weekend bachelor party. They brought the dogs out and searched the heck out of our suv. But, that was trying to get into Canada. What a great weekend.
exactally.......this is the WORST case scenario here....... you get detained and searched for a few hours....... big deal..... its probably happend to all of us at one time or another, during traveling....... even in ny penn station, they stop random people to search there bags before they board the trains, before they even get near the trains!
dont worry, enjoy your trip, and post about your adventures in america when ur done.......
................................................................................. "whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well...."
Posts: 521 | Location: nj.....ny | Registered: September 18, 2007
if you remove all the bands, therefore making sure your sticks cant be identified as cubans, what can they do to you for bringing some "dominicans" or "nicaraguan" sticks from one country to another?
they would have to prove without a doubt that they are post-embargo cuban cigars, which is virtually impossible........
be as brash as you want....... unless your bringing a crazy amout of boxes with you, you probably wont even get stopped....... and if you do, like i said, just tell them that they are dominican cigars, and there is nothing they can do to you unless you confess........
dont worry about it, leave the bands and boxes at home, and enjoy your trip to the u.s........ if you find yourself in ny, shoot me an email....
Not trying to be argumenative, and I don't know what the boder crossing is like where you are, matthew, but give any attitude in Windsor/Detroit or Sault Ste. Marie/Sault Ste. Marie, or Sarnia/Port Huron and you'll spend your vacation waiting for border patrol to have coffee, search your car, make phone calls, confiscate anything they don't like, have another cup of coffee, triple check your identification, etc...
And I'm not a college-kid in a beat up car or a hippie in a van, and I don't have any anti- or pro- govenrment stickers on my car...I'm a pretty typical looking middle-class traveller...
I guess my point is there's nothing to gain by having a "they can't do anything to me" attitude, and there's no reason to flaunt anything. Peel the bands. Say, "Yes, sir." "Thank you, Sir." and enjoy your time.
jag
quote:
"I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." ~ Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 1116 | Location: Michigan | Registered: September 15, 2006
How many is a few. If you have 4 or 5 in a small pouch on your person they will not find them or even look. If you have 2 boxes and they look into your luggage or search your car you can be in deep doo doo
Doc ***** Tobacco is a filthy weed, I like it...
SNOB Member 1033 1/3
Posts: 9376 | Location: New York City | Registered: May 02, 2002
Originally posted by matthew-nj/ny: remove all the bands before you come to the u.s. and nothing can happen to you at customs either way........ enjoy your trip!
Matt,
PLEASE don't try this...nothing could be further from the truth. All Customs has to do is SUSPECT the cigars are Cuban in origin. From there, it's up to you to prove they are not. In fact, in some cases, cigars without bands may draw even more suspicion. Since all cigars cost more in Canada, most customs officials will wonder why anyone in their right mind would pay 2-3 times more in Canada for stuff they can get legally in the U.S.
Once Customs red flags you, they can make life miserable for you in airports, at the borders, etc. A real pain.
Generally speaking, carrying cigars on your person across the Canadian or Mexican border is more risk than it's worth.
well lets not be to naive.....actually they can do whatever the hell they want. they can say "hey what are these cigars?" you can reply "oh they are dominican" and they can say "oh well, i really dont care what you say i think they are cuban, you can throw them in the trash or dont come across the boarder" "hows that?"... the truth is if you take the bands off it will be more likely you will be ok, but it doesnt garauntee anything. i was told to throw my 8 dollar coffe-capachino-expresso in the trash(in which i just bought) or dont board a plane, before. this is what i would do if i were you...i would take only a few with me, remove the labels and put them in dominican cigar tubes. then pack em up real good in some luggage and put it in the trunk.i feel they would have to have a real good reason to go into the trunk and even if they did find em, you can try the "their freaking dominican!" speech and hope to get away with it. good luck!
Originally posted by Docbarry: How many is a few. If you have 4 or 5 in a small pouch on your person they will not find them or even look. If you have 2 boxes and they look into your luggage or search your car you can be in deep doo doo
without the habana bands and in dominican boxes, how does he get into trouble?
and jagmqt, ive never heard of people at boarder crossings just "taking" what they want out of your bags or off your person, and confiscating it........ i dont know about you, but im a us citizen, born and raised in the garden state of nj, and i know my rights.....
ive never heard of people at the boarder or customs just taking your personal possesions, and then basically telling you, "this is ours now, piss off"........
am i the only american that this has never happend to????
................................................................................. "whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well...."
Posts: 521 | Location: nj.....ny | Registered: September 18, 2007
They can search without cause, detain without reason (temporarily), deny access without explanation, and confiscate as they see fit.
You may be able to get back what they take, but who wants that hassle? Write a letter to the border authority justifying what you had and disputing confiscation...what a pain. I'm not saying they do this, or will do this, but they can and I've seen it done.
I've never crossed in the Northeast, so I don't know what it's like there...there may be so much more traffic that their standards for "suspicion" are different...I know crossing from Michigan now is not like it was 10 years ago...I had an easier time as an 19 year old crossing to drink that I do on business now.
I'm not yelling "the sky is falling," and chances are if you have a couple of cigars to smoke on the road it's gonna be a non-issue...I would just recommend a little discretion and a little caution, that's all.
jag
quote:
"I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." ~ Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 1116 | Location: Michigan | Registered: September 15, 2006
Assuming you get caught...because you are Canadian, you will probably be sent to Gitmo...which, ironically, is in Cuba...once there, you will be tortured by having to smoke really bad cigars from the T******n catalog until you puke...which will probably be half of one cigar, unless of course you are Canadian...then you will likely finish the box because you cannot tell shyte from shinola...so, just go out and buy some cheap machine rolled cigars, put the bands on your overly taxed CC, and cross the border into the promised land where the streets are paved with gold...unless of course, you want Cubans...and you happen to smoke...
The risk of kicking butt is you get some crap on your shoe
I cross in both directions many times a year. I am always asked if I have tobacco products. If you say "NO" and they search you your screwed. If you say "Yes" they may ask to see them. They also search cars randomly, as they see fit. There are always cars being ripped apart.
I always say "Yes" if I have any cigars with me. Every time I have been asked if they can see them. Even after handing them my humi each time they look thru them and still ask if any are cubans.
If they suspect they are they are gone, or worse case they take them and also search you car, and you have to repack it, they don't.
If you give them a hard time and say you have rights they will just laugh and tell you "yea right". You have the right to do as they say, end of story.
If you feel it is worth the shot, give it a try, chances are you will have no problem. Otherwise, stop at a B&M and enjoy the many NC's available which are very much enjoyable and smoke the cubans when you get back.
The burden of proof is on YOU to prove they are not cuban. You can't rough up or scare those people, they will make your life hell and it does not matter how tough you believe you are or what rights you think you have. You will lose. They deal with hundreds of people everyday, do you really believe they haven't heard the I have rights speech before? The burden of proof will be on you to prove they aren't cuban. If you give them attitude, they will trash your cigars and you can submit a formal complaint later, however that will not buy you new cc's... BTW, if you know your rights, then you know you are breaking the law and you are wrong.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." Ronald Reagan
I never post on this forum, but I had to step in on this one. Don't we all love Mr. Matthew, the tough guy ultimate fighter (wannabe) with the attractive chin strap?
As a State Trooper, having been in law enforcement for quite some time, and holding two masters degrees, I feel I am qualified to speak on this topic.
Everyone, please read everything Matthew said in this post, and then disregard all of it completely. It is all very, very, incorrect (and rather ignorant). "Tough guy" attitudes (especially coming from _average_ sized guys with chin straps) WILL NOT get you ANYWHERE with any law enforcement officer, and that includes customs officials.
The truth is, bringing a Cuban cigar into the US is a risk. If a customs official even suspects it is Cuban, they can and will confiscate it, and give you a harder time than you probably deserve. They need no "proof" and do not like lectures from people they are investigating.
Saying "I know my rights....(blah blah)" will get you no where but a small holding room on the border where you will sit there for hours while they go about normal business. On top of that, they will flag you for any further travel you do, and your life (in airports especially) will become rather complicated.
Just don't risk it.
Matthew, where did you go to college and what did you study? Have you served in the military? I would like to know: from what experience do you draw this "tough guy" mentality from? There are plenty of men on this forum that would humble you in seconds.
So remember, a closed mouth never has a foot in it, Matthew.
Originally posted by Paul Upton: I never post on this forum, but I had to step in on this one. Don't we all love Mr. Matthew, the tough guy ultimate fighter (wannabe) with the attractive chin strap?
As a State Trooper, having been in law enforcement for quite some time, and holding two masters degrees, I feel I am qualified to speak on this topic.
Everyone, please read everything Matthew said in this post, and then disregard all of it completely. It is all very, very, incorrect (and rather ignorant). "Tough guy" attitudes (especially coming from _average_ sized guys with chin straps) WILL NOT get you ANYWHERE with any law enforcement officer, and that includes customs officials.
The truth is, bringing a Cuban cigar into the US is a risk. If a customs official even suspects it is Cuban, they can and will confiscate it, and give you a harder time than you probably deserve. They need no "proof" and do not like lectures from people they are investigating.
Saying "I know my rights....(blah blah)" will get you no where but a small holding room on the border where you will sit there for hours while they go about normal business. On top of that, they will flag you for any further travel you do, and your life (in airports especially) will become rather complicated.
Just don't risk it.
Matthew, where did you go to college and what did you study? Have you served in the military? I would like to know: from what experience do you draw this "tough guy" mentality from? There are plenty of men on this forum that would humble you in seconds.
So remember, a closed mouth never has a foot in it, Matthew.
+2
Having been a LEO for the USCG (which is a part of the DHS) for 17+ years, having an attitude with a customs/police/trooper/guy with badge/jurisdiction is a mistake.
Personally, when someone has spouted off to me during the course of a boarding (which is in effect a traffic stop on the ocean) I liked to take the book out and go page by page. I have made 30 minute safety checks last for 5 hours for people that "knew their rights" and felt that they "Knew the law". those people usually have "something to hide", and I usually find it.
_____________________ God, Country and Fast Boats
Posts: 554 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: March 12, 2007
Originally posted by Paul Upton: I never post on this forum, but I had to step in on this one. Don't we all love Mr. Matthew, the tough guy ultimate fighter (wannabe) with the attractive chin strap?
As a State Trooper, having been in law enforcement for quite some time, and holding two masters degrees, I feel I am qualified to speak on this topic.
Everyone, please read everything Matthew said in this post, and then disregard all of it completely. It is all very, very, incorrect (and rather ignorant). "Tough guy" attitudes (especially coming from _average_ sized guys with chin straps) WILL NOT get you ANYWHERE with any law enforcement officer, and that includes customs officials.
The truth is, bringing a Cuban cigar into the US is a risk. If a customs official even suspects it is Cuban, they can and will confiscate it, and give you a harder time than you probably deserve. They need no "proof" and do not like lectures from people they are investigating.
Saying "I know my rights....(blah blah)" will get you no where but a small holding room on the border where you will sit there for hours while they go about normal business. On top of that, they will flag you for any further travel you do, and your life (in airports especially) will become rather complicated.
Just don't risk it.
Matthew, where did you go to college and what did you study? Have you served in the military? I would like to know: from what experience do you draw this "tough guy" mentality from? There are plenty of m
