SFO customs warning

[jasperblubber2006]

just got back from LOS and was taken back by some of the assholes who work for customs at sfo, i have never condoned kiddie porn or bringing drugs into the country but some of these pricks need to find another line of work, it was apparent that once i got my luggage i was screened out for an inspection, this one clown went through every little piece of my belongings and afterwords started to go through my pictures in my sony cybershot, all my pictures (lee, praw, tiffany's) were with them wearing there cloths and there wasn't much he could do, i kept cool until the prick tried to confiscate my beef jerky which i bought at costco before i left for bangkok.
i went to see the supervisor afterword to find out what there problem was, he apoligized a few times but apparently single white male coming from bkk sends the flag up for some of these guys, whats the point?, be careful, some of the ladyboys we see like lee look very young and a nude photo could create some problems.
if you use a memory stick like me you may want to hide it if you got some shots of some of the younger looking lb's of LOS
jasper
the supervisor did tell me

[Randyman]

When I'm down to my last few days, I stop doing laundry and use my dirty underwear and socks as packing material. They hate picking through that shit, and buy a bat or some funky framed bugs and leave them near the top of your bag. When they check, act enthusiastic about your "finds" ...ie..."check that one right there, it's disgusting"...they've NEVER gotten a third of the way into my bag before they booted my ass outta there.
randyman

[BAM]

I've been searched many times now and always for drugs. I've been searched twice LAX and twice in Melbourne but last year in Sydney they just went ape shit after me when I got off a flight from Bangkok... I was the prime drug lord suspect of the day I guess. As soon as I passed through Immigration 2 customs officers came up next to me and asked to see my passport. He asks me if the photo in my passports is me... starts drilling me questions like where did you stay, who do you know in Bangkok, what did you do there? Then he says 'how many bags do you have?' So here I go to the baggage carousel with these 2 customs guys watching me like a hawk. As soon as I pulled my 2 bags off the thing they just took them from me and into a room they called the RED ROOM even if it's not red. Now I'm surrounded by 8 customs officers asking me to open my bags. So I did and they started going through everything... I had a stack of pirated movies and lots of counterfeit stuff I bought but they didn't care about that... they were clearly looking for drugs. They took swipes (samples) of the insides of my bags and were testing everything for drug residue, when the tests came back negative they quickly became very nice and friendly and said "Welcome to Australia"

As for photos I learned a long time ago not to carry any kind of porn in your computer or camera. All the photos I take I FTP out over the net before I leave Thailand. I install decoy photos in my laptop and on the cameras SD card of the Grand Palace, Beach, Sunsets, Elephants... just clean stuff... no nude girls at all...that€™s just asking for trouble.

Oh yeah one other thing..... NEVER tell them you're going to or coming from Pattaya!!!! Thats just asking for trouble too... there are too many under age girls working in Pattaya and most everyone goes there for SEX... so just saying "Pattaya" sets off all kinds of alarms with the customs pricks.

[dummy_plug]

It's a good thing I've never been searched too thoroughly...

Although I did get snickers from the customs agent who noted I had gone to Bangkok, alone, twice within 3 months.

[Guest]

Bam,
Having been a Customs Officer in Sydney for 4 years I can enlighten you to some of the inside working of the industry. Without doubt you were not randomly searched. The reason I say this is because you have been searched every time you have come to Australia. You were targeted as a result of information someone gave them or your travel intinerary was unusual. Another possibility is on a previous trip one of the customs officers has put a report in concerning your entry. Unfortunately each time you enter they will look at you because of previous trips. On their computers they have flags that come up if passengers buy cash tickets at the last moment or have transited through known drug countries.

If you are on their suspect lists they have to search you regardless of your story, laundry etc......

As for porno the only things they are interested in is porno with underage children, sex with animals or sex involving violence or degrading acts.

As Thailand is a transit country for heroin and the US is known for cocaine there is a possibility that your intinerary was flagged as suspect.

I certainly don't have a problem with being searched in any country as long as they are polite and follow protocols.

The other area of some concern is there ability to download your SIM card with all your contacts on it. They can then cross reference this with known criminals and see if they match. The information is then kept on file. As well if you have given your mobile number to others who may or may have a questionable background your name will appear on their search database.

Question is do you know the background of all the people in your SIm card or you have given your mobile number to?

Anyway if you have nothing to hide then a few extra minutes making sure our borders are safe is worth the inconvience.

[Guest]

(newcomer @ May 16 2006,21:10) Bam,
Having been a Customs Officer in Sydney for 4 years I can enlighten you to some of the inside working of the industry. Without doubt you were not randomly searched. The reason I say this is because you have been searched every time you have come to Australia. You were targeted as a result of information someone gave them or your travel intinerary was unusual. Another possibility is on a previous trip one of the customs officers has put a report in concerning your entry. Unfortunately each time you enter they will look at you because of previous trips. On their computers they have flags that come up if passengers buy cash tickets at the last moment or have transited through known drug countries.

If you are on their suspect lists they have to search you regardless of your story, laundry etc......

As for porno the only things they are interested in is porno with underage children, sex with animals or sex involving violence or degrading acts.

As Thailand is a transit country for heroin and the US is known for cocaine there is a possibility that your intinerary was flagged as suspect.

I certainly don't have a problem with being searched in any country as long as they are polite and follow protocols.

The other area of some concern is there ability to download your SIM card with all your contacts on it. They can then cross reference this with known criminals and see if they match. The information is then kept on file. As well if you have given your mobile number to others who may or may have a questionable background your name will appear on their search database.

Question is do you know the background of all the people in your SIm card or you have given your mobile number to?

Anyway if you have nothing to hide then a few extra minutes making sure our borders are safe is worth the inconvience.

Thanks for the information. I always wondered why a lot of people I talk to get hassled by customs and immigration but in all my trips to Thailand I have never even been asked why I go, they just waive me through in fact my bags have also never been search only x-rayed. Not that I am complaining of course.

A mate of mine who is also Australian and reads this forum actually called the day after he got home saying he was searched and even his camera was investigated. Maybe he can provide more details.

[Guest]

Good for you Oz, but thats only half the story. The rest is better told face to face if you know what I mean.

Would you like to be stripped searched? I can arrange it for you on your next trip!!

[Guest]

(newcomer @ May 16 2006,22:03) Good for you Oz, but thats only half the story. The rest is better told face to face if you know what I mean.

Would you like to be stripped searched? I can arrange it for you on your next trip!!

Only if the officer is a ladyboy of course.    

[Guest]

Ozzie,

Funny you should say that! Is there such a thing as a Boylady.

There are plenty of GG Female Custom Officers that look like men. Does that count?

[Guest]

Randyman,

Be careful with your bugs! If they are endangered species you will be held up for 1 hour with paperwork and lots of lovely questions about your love of bugs, critters etc

Don't think your not the first one to think of putting your dirty underwear on top of the suitcase, that's what gloves are for.

Far worse is a plane load of Apemen off the Gulf Air flight from Bahrain for BO or Vietnam Airlines with their food surprises. Stinks the whole place out.....ahhhh

[relpax]

i get occasional questions at the most but have never been searched.

once i was getting the third degree until they asked me who did you travel with? i pointed to the next aisle to my father and said with my dad. then they basically stopped. i guess they figured who in the hell goes drug running or whore mongering with their father!?! not a bad reason to have one of the gray haired posse around. hehe. "

[post-op lover]

(Randyman @ May 16 2006,08:07) When I'm down to my last few days, I stop doing laundry and use my dirty underwear and socks as packing material. They hate picking through that shit, and buy a bat or some funky framed bugs and leave them near the top of your bag. When they check, act enthusiastic about your "finds" ...ie..."check that one right there, it's disgusting"...they've NEVER gotten a third of the way into my bag before they booted my ass outta there.
randyman

I think you're angling to win the ATS sick mind of the year award. Mirimark, Bam, watch out!

[post-op lover]

Holy crap, they download your SIM card, too?! What kind of ass-backwards place does that? Even the US hasn't done that. Oh wait, they don't need to - they just ask AT&T or SBC to give 'em that info.

Bam, it sounds like Australia's got a hard on for you. Love it and live with it is about all I guess anyone can say. Start wearing a tshirt saying "Australian Customs has a hard on for me" - see what happens. Or some other slogan showing the love for the boys and girls of customs.

As for the pics, I don't often have pics stored in any sane part of my computer. Unless someone is interested in spending a lot of time opening tons of directories or waiting for a search, I doubt they'd get far. On the other hand, your advice about not traveling with porn is a very good idea. Even encryption will get them a little worked up. An alternative is to encrypt files & then relabel them as executables or data files. "Well, that's just a large database file belonging to one of my customers. He sent it to me before I left, but I left the program to open it back at my office. Oh well, I wasn't going to work while on vacation, anyway." A nice 1024-bit encryption and a few tricks of renaming files ought to be enough.

Well, let's keep this thread up. I think it's wise advice to all of us dealing with customs.

[post-op lover]

Hmm, should this be in Travel Information?

[dummy_plug]

(relpax @ May 16 2006,17:35) not a bad reason to have one of the gray haired posse around. hehe. "

Hear that Incher, you're good for something!