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Taboada Border trouble

atuck

ANEJORE
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
2,419
Had another great day at LCDH in TJ today. Got 1 bundle of Dom Perignons, 1 bundle of Torpedos and 10 Solomones. Smoked some great cigars while I was there. Between cigars I went Cuban cigarette hunting and found several cartons.

When I got to the border there was hardly anybody there. The first guy checked me through OK. I told him that I had some Mexican cigars, some cigarettes, some t-shirts and a stained glass window. But when I put my backpack through the x-ray machine the girl there started asking me about what I had in it. I told her and she sent me over to another counter. They made me empty my bag. And the $hit started to happen. :0 They told me that I was smuggling. :0 I told them that I declared all the items with the 1st guy. But they said I didn't declare how much I had and that I was only allowed to bring over 1 carton of cigarettes per month and cigars count as that. They also were very concerned that the cigars were Cubans with the bands removed. I told them over and over again that they were Mexican cigars and that I had watched them get rolled right in front of my eyes. They even smelled them and knew that they were Cuban, you know you can't mistake that barnyard odor. I asked if there was anything I could do in order to keep my stuff. They said that there was nothing, it was as good as gone. I was $hitting my a$$! Over $2000 worth of cigars, half of which were promised to CP members.

This one guy seemed to take over the whole thing and started asking me if I had $10,000. :0 And where was my car and what kind was it. What did I do for a living and other $hit like that. He was saying This all was either $10,000 or go to jail. Fu(k!!! :angry: But then he started being a little cool and telling me that he didn't want to see me go to jail and that I needed to save my money and time to raise my kids.

He then make me an offer to take all my $hit back into TJ and return it. And then come back to be searched again. But If I had anything on me again it would be $20,000.

I immediately went back to LCDH and talked to david and Moises. So now the cigars are going to be FedEx'd to me. The cigarettes too. Going to cost me extra but well worth it considering. I have talked to several of his other customers that have him ship everything to them and feel very confident that there wont be any problems.

If, however, there are any problems or if for any reason any of you that went in on the group buy want your money back I will have no problem returning it. It is all still in my Paypal account. Money orders I can either return or cash and get you a new one.

$hit happens! But I do expect everything to work out fine. The delivery of cigars to you just might be a little delayed.

I am sorry for any inconvenience!

Alan
 
Horrible story bro :0

Never had any problems crossing the border, but I never walk across either.
When buying anything more than a box worth of sticks, I have a guy Fed-Ex em to me and never had a problem yet.

Best of luck to you and the BOTLs in the group buy :thumbs:
 
WOW !

Atleast we are still going to get the cigars. Why would I want my money back. Fedex is only going to prolong it a few days. I can wait a few extra days.

Since the Mexicans wanted $20,000.00 is there anyway you can throw us an extra $5000.00 for the wait. I think thats a deal! Its like saving you 75%.

Fedex will only prolong things a few days. I can wait. I wasnt going to smokem all in one day anyway. The main thing is that you are Ok and have worked it out so no-one has lost anything except a few days. I appreciate you doing this and going through all the trouble to do it.

No problem, I hope you had a good time and just let me know when the cigars come in.

Richard
 
Wooo...did you luck out...I woulda been pissing in my pants...which reminds me of a funny story (yes..it's a mild threadjack but it's about smuggling and I'll keep it short)...I'm 10, my brother is 7...Mom & Dad take us on a trip to Canada from Cleveland, by car...fireworks legal in Canada, illegal in Ohio...but what do we know...we just figure we're gonna sneak them past pop...we know crap about border inspections...so we buy some and hide them in a suitcase...now we we're at the border in a long liine of cars and the customs agent is basically strip searching each car...we're talking maybe 1956...what ya gonna bring in from Canada that's major contrband then? So we're in the back seat dying...wasn't customs that worried us...pop worried us (he had a temper)...but, pop is also impatient...and he sees a shorter line and moves into it...custom guy says "anything to declare?" Pop says "no," and we drive on through...two kids in the back seat with damn near wet pants...almost 40 years ago, and to this day the old man still doesn't know about it...heh...threadjack over...:D
 
I'm still in. Lets hope the smokes make it via FedEx okay! BTW, check your PMs, atuck. :)
 
Damn Alan that does suck! What do you think caused suspicion? The cuban cigarrettes?

I've heard of other customers having them Fed-Ex'ed to them so I don't think that should be a problem!
 
Wow, what a bad experience! I'm glad it worked out as well as it did.

It will make an interesting story in a year or two. Hell it's a good story now, tho I'm sure you're still feeling it in your bones too much to appreciate that aspect of it now!
 
talk about pushing your luck... glad you were let off the hook. hope these make it back into you.
 
Yikes! Glad to hear things are going to turn out alright. You handled your responsibilities to your group buy members like a true BOTL and gentleman. :thumbs:
 
Good Job Alan! Fedex won't be a problem ..... Oh yeah, I missed out on this damn group buy :angry2:

Throw his a$$ in a Mexican prison !

:sign:

:cool:
 
I hope you learned a valuable lesson. It is crazy to mule contraband in your posession across any border. It is one thing to have things sent with a guarantee, but muling is a whole different category. They could have easily jailed you over something as benign as cigars. They are not worth it.
 
The Master said:
I hope you learned a valuable lesson. It is crazy to mule contraband in your posession across any border. It is one thing to have things sent with a guarantee, but muling is a whole different category. They could have easily jailed you over something as benign as cigars. They are not worth it.
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I thought I was fine as long as I declared them. But some things have changed down there since I was in my 20s. :0
 
Yikes! What a horrific experience. Glad it all turned out ok. I guess it's best just to have them shipped.
 
Glad you're not in Mexican jail, Alan. I heard it's not the place to be.

-Fetter
 
S*** happens! Glad you are not in some TJ jail, being made love by some guy named Juan (Bubba) Ernesto Garcia de la Hoya :D No problem on my end, I'm still in. Thanks for going through all this the trouble for us :thumbs:
 
Wow, sounds like I won't be bringing any sticks back from Mexico!!! :laugh: :laugh: Also, I assume this was U.S. Customs as I've found they are bigger assholes than most any other country I've been through.
 
tone-ny said:
S*** happens! Glad you are not in some TJ jail, being made love by some guy named Juan (Bubba) Ernesto Garcia de la Hoya :D No problem on my end, I'm still in. Thanks for going through all this the trouble for us :thumbs:
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The guy I got sent back over the border with was Angel
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. We shared a taxi and then he wanted to borrow money! :laugh: :laugh:
 
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