# Smuggling contraband into America.....I really need to know! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2000, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044 "2000-09-05T04:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/1 "2000-09-05T04:07:49Z")
Absinthe is illegal in the U.S., but legal in some countries of Europe. A friend of mine is going to Europe next month. If she buys a bottle of Absinthe and puts it in her suitcase, and customs finds it, what is going to happen to her? Will they tell her she can’t bring it in and just confiscate it? Or Will she be arrested? What if she plays dumb and says she didn’t know she couldn’t bring it in? ---
**Author:** ![Fyodor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/958977/32.png) [@Fyodor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fyodor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/2 "2000-09-05T05:24:36Z")
I’ll try and post a link to a good thread on absinthe. Basically, the overpriced absinthe you can buy in Britain almost certainly does not have the same lethal ingredients of the legendary absinthe of the early twentieth century. If I was you and your friend I’d go ahead and try and bring it back in through customs, just declare it as ordinary liquor, and play dumb if confronted - “gee officer, I just thought it was an unusual liquor that we can’t get at home.” The worst that can happen is it gets confiscated. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=14140](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=14140) ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/3 "2000-09-05T12:14:44Z")
IRL, your odds of being challenged by customs over the type of liquor, or even having them take you over for the random search are small. It depends on where you just came from, and if you physically or by your passport record fit a certain “profile”. This is what would happen most likely: First, they would have to decide to take a detailed look at what you declared. Then, they would have to decide if the particular liquor you are bringing through is one that you are supposed to have or not. Then, they would have to determine as to what your intent was - were you a smuggler hell-bent on bringing the entire fabric of American society down in flames, or the standard clueless tourist. I’ve seen many people get things confiscated while in line at customs: foodstuffs - meat, sausage, sheep products. These were confiscated from people, typically older Europeans, who protested loudly and belligerantly that the US had no right to take their blood sausage they brought for their son. They have it taken and are passed through unmolested. (saw this at least 5 or 6 times) cigarettes - two ladies who brought two giant bags of Marlboros through the line, and refused to declare them (“But they’re duty-free! We don’t have to declare them! Get out of way!” - and off they went, escorted behind the ominous grey door in the wall with no handle) A sword - brought back from Africa by a contemptuous-acting Peace Corp worker, who was also taken behind the ominous grey door when he refused to give it up. (what are these people thinking anyways? “I really can’t go another day without a cavity search?!”) That having been said, everytime I see someone just say “Oh, I didn’t know there was anything wrong with that, I’m terribly sorry.” or words to that effect, they just had the item taken and were let to go on their way. Remember - they’re not looking for Absinthe smugglers, they are looking for coke, heroin, pot, Pharmaceuticals, et al. That having been said, I am not advocating that you break US law by bringing things through customs that you shouldn’t. Just explaining what I think a real scenario would be if you did try it. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/4 "2000-09-05T12:52:28Z")
Agreed, if you bought it in a liquor store, then just declare it as liquor. If they ask questions, answer truthfully and politely (although you needn’t offer more information than what they ask.) Funniest one I ever saw coming through was a woman with a sack of apples who got stopped by customs. She wouldn’t give the fruit up, so she just started passing 'em out to everyone in line – “Here, eat it before you go through.” ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/5 "2000-09-05T13:50:30Z")
Slight hijack here… Why is absinthe illegal in America? ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/6 "2000-09-05T13:58:55Z")
DVous, the original absynthe was psychotropic and those chemicals are now banned by the FDA, the fascists. HUGS! Sqrl ---
**Author:** ![kevals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@kevals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevals)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/7 "2000-09-05T14:14:50Z")
Or, if you a really bent on bringing it back, a friend of mine actually just replaced a bottle of mouthwash with absinthe bringing the empty bottle as a souvenir, and transferred it back to its bottle later. Worked like a charm, not sure if the effort was required but then again it worked. I believe absinthe is illegal in America and a large portion of the rest of the world becasue of its psycho-tropic qualities. It was known to mess with the nervous system. Not a hundred percent sure about this, but I think that is the case. ANyway, its damned good stuff, and definately worth bringing back. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/8 "2000-09-05T18:15:59Z")
Also because it tends to turn your brain into Swiss cheese. Scientific American ran an article about it a while back, claiming that absinth-induced brain damage was the primary cause for van Gogh’s insanity. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/9 "2000-09-05T23:37:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kevals \* > \*\*Or, if you a really bent on bringing it back, a friend of mine actually just replaced a bottle of mouthwash with absinthe bringing the empty bottle as a souvenir, and transferred it back to its bottle later. Worked like a charm, not sure if the effort was required but then again it worked. \*\* Is absynthe coloured green? Once, a friend of mine who’d been traveling in France brought back a baggie of sand from Normandy’s beaches by smuggling it inside of a balled up dirty sock. Also, I remember being paranoid when I forgot to declare four bottles of Czech pilsners I brought back from Prague once. I sweated my wait through the customs line upon my return to Dulles and was asked one question by the customs official: Did you have a nice trip? _Whew_ ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/10 "2000-09-06T01:43:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SqrlCub \* > \*\*DVous, the original absynthe was psychotropic and those chemicals are now banned by the FDA, the fascists. > > HUGS! > Sqrl \*\* One of the ironies is that, 100-odd years after it was banned, scientists just this summer isolated the chemicals in absinthe that have the psychotropic effects. (just pretend I inserted the link to the article) BTW, absinthe is very good stuff indeed. Sua ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/11 "2000-09-06T02:21:44Z")
DVous, Absinthe was the first of a long line of “offically banned substances”, extending all the way down through marijuana, cocaine, MDMA, and most recently GBH. The reason for which it was banned was its deleterious health effects, which oddly enough are remarkably similar to severe alcohol abuse. many artists of the time (1800’s) imbibed absinthe, and many celebrated it in their art. More recently, you have seen it in the video for Nine Inch Nails’ “Perfect Drug”. It was prepared and consumed in a very ritualistic manner, with water poured over a sugar cube held in a small slotted spoon, into one’s glass. The absinthe would go from a translucent green to an almost milky lighter green after. the water was poured. Said to taste much like anise (black licorace flavor), to which I say “yuck”. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2000, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smuggling-contraband-into-america-i-really-need-to-know/32044/12 "2000-09-06T14:31:06Z")
Just put it in a small plastic container & mail it to yourself express mail. Have done this a lot they never open the packages.