You do have to use common sense. For example, landing in Jordan with a bag full of bacon strips is probably not a good idea. I have found that when countries are sensitive about something, they usually provide ample warning. Example - when flying into Taiwan in 2019, they had been hit with some kind of African swine flu that had decimated the hog population so they were ultra sensitive about raw, uncooked meat being carried in. There was sign after sign that you would have to ignore to run afoul of that.Kbg wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:33 pm
If you are the law enforcement officer your job is to enforce the law not interpret it. That's what we have judges for who then apply common sense, special circumstances or whatever to toss, downgrade or upgrade the penalty. That's the theory anyway it's best when the system functions that way over the long haul. Of course, officers and judges are people and they have good and bad days and are inconsistent. Sometimes you get the traffic warning, sometimes you get the $250 speeding ticket. Apparently, this person got the ag inspector who was having a bad day.
Me personally...I'm uber cautious on this stuff.
My only customs issue happened when traveling back to the US from Toronto. Our kids were toddlers, and mama bear packed these incredible panini sandwiches and a clamshell package of strawberries for a snack. Nobody cared about the sandwiches, but boy we got flagged for the strawberries and taken to a US Customs inspection area. The inspector was actually pretty nice, and I noticed the sticker on the package said grown and packed in California. I showed him, and he said no law against repatriating American strawberries and sent us on our way.
There's a Canadian reality show called (I think) Border Security where they show the kind of shit people try to smuggle, both at land crossings and airport entry. It's amazing. Yeah, the border agents have stories.