Random custom inspection debarking 11/9 Gem

[Diamond Girl]

This morning me and my elderly mother got off the Gem. We were next in line to present our passports and declaration form, when we were approached my another agent who asked to see our passports and forms. He asked if we were carrying any fruits or other food items from the ship. We told him no, as we weren't and he said after we presented our passports to the desk agent, we were to follow him into the examination room for further inspection. As we followed him, he asked us two more times, if we had any food items in our bags and we told him, absolutely not. Our bags were put through the scanner and when the agent didn't find anything, we were told we were free to go.

It really upset my mother, but I'm just wondering if this is something they see elderly people doing?

Edited November 15, 2014 by Diamond Girl

[SissasMomE]

Not sure why it would upset your mother. Any one at any time is subject to inspection - for whatever reason they give you, or don't give you.

[Diamond Girl]

A random inspection is not a problem, but the fact that we were asked three times and three times replied no, that we were not bringing food off the ship, is what upset her.

[philip_eunice1]

The reason he asked you 3 times was to change your story if you needed to

 

 

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[SissasMomE]

The reason he asked you 3 times was to change your story if you needed to

 

 

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Pretty nice considering they do not have to ask anything at all.

[Diamond Girl]

Pretty nice considering they do not have to ask anything at all.

 

If agent hadn't asked anything at all, I wouldn't have posted on here.

[sjbdtz]

It's entirely possible that a Customs dog spotted the two of you. Maybe there was a residual fruit smell on either your clothes or your bags....

 

The reason you were asked 3 times was to give you the chance to confess.... in which case they'd probably make you discard it (if you HAD had something), as opposed to if you denied it and they found it anyway.... then you're looking at a major fine.

 

 

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[johnsak123]

When i arrived in NY after a cruise on the Jewel the customs gentlemen asked me a whole bunch of questions. Mainly who I was traveling with and if I bought any jewelry while on the cruise)

I answered him honestly and he kept looking at his computer screen. He told me he was having a computer trouble(BS) and next thing you know I was in the customs interrogation office.

The agent kept asking me the same two questions

Do you have any drugs. Did you buy any jewelry on your cruise

I was there almost an hour as my luggage was inspected. Its a good lesson to not try to smuggle anything in because they dump your stuff out right there in front of everyone.

Needless to say it was problematic to put it all back in suitcase while at the office.

BTW They asked me about 15 times about the jewelry.

It was clearly obvious that something in the X ray triggered this. It was a zipper on a pair of pants

Can you imagine. Put a nice damper on a wonderful cruise

Edited November 16, 2014 by johnsak123

[FreestyleNovice]

Never had any trouble with CBP or any customs, if I do I will fully cooperate to speed up the process. They are just doing their work/pledged duty, perhaps with a game face on but understandable.

 

Wondering what TS expected after the third no answer from CBP; "Oh, ok you're good to go since you said no three times after we seemed to have a reason to pull you out (fruit residu, personal behavior, etc etc)."

 

It's part of the travel. Take it light. :)

[PoofCat99]

On the return from a trip to France, my mom and I were behind a large family (US Citizens, several generations). First, they were upset because only 1 of them could accompany the older woman in a wheel chair (there were about 6 of them) through the passport line and customs. This was at Newark, btw. Once we got to customs, the dog hit on of the carry ons and she was pulled aside for secondary inspection at a side table. I am not kidding when I say they emptied enough fruit out of her bag for a fruit salad, apples, oranges, lemons, I think there was a kiwi. She was acting very put out that they were taking it from her. It isn't like you can't get the same thing in the States!

 

When it was my turn, the officer and I shared a bemused smile. I had a can of foie gras which I declared (it is legal as long as it is canned or jarred) and got a "Welcome Home" from the officer.

[younglegend]

You're lucky you were only questioned. After our very first cruise, my husband was pulled out of the line, questioned, all of his belongings pulled out of his luggage and thoroughly searched, and held for at least 30 minutes. I won't speculate on here as to why I think that was, but it was unsettling at best.

Edited November 16, 2014 by younglegend

[luvtheships]

It should be understood by now that they will pick out random people so that it doesn't look like profiling

 

At the airport once I saw them pick out several people for " questions" an elderly person.... A single person...a family with small kids....and finally....the person they really wanted to single out!!

 

It was obvious to anyone with eyesight why they wanted that Individual singled out but in order to make it look random they also singled out 3 others

 

It was not profiling by any means it was singling out a suspicious looking individual but then again it is what profiling is all about in order for it to work

 

And this is what we should all want I would hope but several other people had to be singled out randomly as well in order to make it look random

 

 

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Edited November 16, 2014 by luvtheships

[rvsullivan]

As someone that goes through customs almost weekly I will say this. They have several things they look for, you fit a profile, every (fill in the blank) person is pulled randomly, the xray machines sees something, the dog alerts, you appear nervous, etc. As someone said, they ask you multiple times to give you an opportunity to fess up, if you don't and they find what they are looking for it goes a bit harder on you.

They do a thorough job during the search and don't put things back in the suitcase for you, it's up to you to repack. It is not fun, but it is their job.

Best thing is to be quiet and respectful and they will do the same.

[david_sobe]

Random inspections happen all the time and you should not be upset about it. Even if there are not hits or information about any smuggling they are required to still do secondary inspections on some passengers.

Take no offense it is the nature of the business.

 

I ALWAYS used to get the random explosive checks at the airports. I guess it must be my crazy look :eek: In the years prior to 9/11 they would randomly pull people aside and check their carry on luggage and hands for explosive material. It is frustrating but just roll with the punches. Its part of their job to do so many of them per ship.

 

Yes of course a person acting suspicious will be sent to secondary. But that is NOT ALWAYS the case. Random people with no indications of anything will also be sent. Its part of their job. Chances are there may not be any suspicious activity when a ship disembarks. So they are still required to do checks.

 

I had a weird experience coming back from my first cruise. I work in law enforcement and the customs inspector was asking me questions and one of them where it was I worked. When I told him he began to really interrogate me with specific questions about my agency. I was really surprised and thought it was some sort of trick or something or he thought I was lying. It turns out the inspector had done an internship at the agency I work for so he knew specifics about who I work with. He started to ask questions if I knew this person or that person. I was dumbfounded but afterwards he told me about the internship and it made sense. But for a minute there I felt uncomfortable with questions that were trying to find out if I was lying about something as simple as where I work.

Edited November 16, 2014 by david_sobe

[ilovetotravel1977]

Almost 10 years ago, my sister, her DH, their 2 kids (5 and 2), my son (8) and myself were going to Orlando. At our home airport while checking in, my sister's luggage was the random check. EVERYTHING was brought out and searched.

 

Lessoned learned: always bring your nicest under-things when travelling by plane :)

Edited November 16, 2014 by ilovetotravel1977

[Sauer-kraut]

Exiting a cruise a few years ago in MIA the agent asked me what I had purchased, I said nothing. She looked at me a bit strange and asked about the watch I was wearing, a Tissot which I'd had a couple years but don't wear a lot. I said it was my watch, it was not new and that I hadn't purchased anything on the cruise.

 

She then asked again, focusing on my watch and I repeated my story. She then said something to the effect of how could I not purchase anything on the cruise. My semi-sarcastic answer was that after paying for the cruise and flight I didn't have anything left in the budget to purchase anything else.

[cv322]

OP, so sorry your Mom was upset. These are purely random searches ...looking for food, veggies, flowers. I got called to that same room a few years ago in NY...they asked me & I said no...had none. They actually opened my luggage and then they were satisfied that I was truthful. It happens.

[deladypilot]

Sorry your mother was so upset but that is what we pay those people for. They are there to protect not just our boards but also our crops and to try to slow down the flow of drugs.

 

You never know what you are going to get when you go through customs. Our out last cruise to the Bahamas we were bringing back 8 bottles of rum as well as a couple of t-shirts. We were fully prepared to pay our duty tax on the extra liquor we were bring back and as we got off the ship and into the terminal an agent hollered at us to come to his line. He was smiling very big as we walked to his line. I handed him the customs form and he proceeded to ask my husband if he was on TV. (Think cross between Dog the Bounty Hunter and Duck Dynasty). He told him no and the customs agent laughed and said, "I just had to have you come through my line. Have a nice day". My husband who is overly honest tells the agent..but we have extra liquor and need to pay for it. The agent again smiled and said welcome to Miami, have a safe flight home and waved goodbye.

 

Another time as we were arrived on the train in Vancouver, the agent had a hard time figuring out if my husband was who he said he was. His hair was longer and his beard a lot more gray than in his photo. She stared at the photo and the page for quite some time and then a supervisor walked over and said Whats the problem? she pointed to the photo on the screen and to the passport and the supervisor said. Thats him, the points match. It held us up about 5 minutes but that is the way it is.

 

I would rather be questioned and held for a while than have no protection at all.

[All-ready2cruise]

Perhaps a conversation regarding this type of incident with whom we travel might be appropriate, especially if they're not frequent travellers. It sure can be upsetting but it's a sign of the times and we all need to be aware of it. Education is key. ;)

 

just sayin' :)

[kerryincork]

My aunt (70+) & my parents were going through Miami passport control & my aunt was pulled out of line for extra questions. She was told that the computer randomly selected her and it does this after so many passengers go through. I myself have been searched and swabbed numerous times. It's one of the reasons I like to arrive early at air/port, so I can be chill if I get questioned with out being worried about missing flight etc.

[champagne123]

This is the world we live in now. We have to expect it and nothing we can do about it.

 

My mom is the same age, so I totally empathize. I think my mom would have fainted or started crying uncontrollably. :)

[silvercrikhix]

It's too bad your mom was surprised by the search.

It is random, been there a few times.

 

A humorous one:

Our carry on tote bag was swapped for explosives, no big deal.

Until it came back positive and we had a few agents around us ASAP!

We were dumbfounded for several long seconds, until thank heavens I remembered using that bag a few weeks earlier to bring fireworks to our friends home on the 4th of July.

Everyone sighed & they waved on on through.

[ColinIllinois]

It's too bad your mom was surprised by the search.

It is random, been there a few times.

 

A humorous one:

Our carry on tote bag was swapped for explosives, no big deal.

 

 

I think you mean "swabbed, not "swapped". :D

[mugtech]

You never know about the whole customs gig. In 2008 while returning from the Philippines I put Tunogun on my list of items I was bringing back to the USA. As they searched my bags they found the bamboo filled with sweet rice and asked me about it, saying I should have claimed such items. I showed it to them on my list. They then gave me a paper about agricultural items prohibited, including any kind of grass. Told them I had listed it, the bamboo was dead, just crack one open and eat the rice. They declined my invitation but made me sign a document saying I now understood the regs and would never do it again. Got to keep everything.

[Bars7816]

You may be selected because you appear nervous. That's a bit of a catch-22, since going through security always makes me extremely nervous!! :D TSA seemed to have lightened up a bit for our last flight in February -- are they getting more obnoxious again? Hope not.