What happens to cigarettes/drugs/alcohol seized by border control?

[Happynoj]

When customs officers and border control seize illegally imported cigarettes, drugs and alcohol, what happens to them?

[delta7fred]

Here in the UK they are supposed to be destroyed.

But when my wife's uncle died they found his shed stacked full of booze. He had been a custom officer at Bristol docks prior to him retiring and was thought to be teetotal. He had such a range of spirits in his shed it looked like an off license. His wife said he never smelled of alcohol or appeared to have been drinking.

[dbhokie]

They get smoked/taken/drunk or sold.

[AcidFripp]

They're sold back to the big dealers and the cycle starts again.

[WalterBush]

OK, living in a town where there's a sizable BP station, I'm happy to provide a serious answer.

They're stored in a warehouse, used during trials, stored for a while for possible distribution to other law enforcement agencies in 'sting' operations and such, and eventually destroyed. Some things are destroyed right away.

Siezed guns used to be destroyed or occasionally sold at auction if they hadn't been used in the commision of a crime. With recent policy, this may have changed, though to say anything more would become borderline political.

I'm sure some amount gets "lost" every now and then, but my town isn't full of drunken, high Border agents smoking contraband cigarettes.

[dbhokie]

Originally Posted by WalterBush

OK, living in a town where there's a sizable BP station, I'm happy to provide a serious answer.

They're stored in a warehouse, used during trials, stored for a while for possible distribution to other law enforcement agencies in 'sting' operations and such, and eventually destroyed. Some things are destroyed right away.

Siezed guns used to be destroyed or occasionally sold at auction if they hadn't been used in the commision of a crime. With recent policy, this may have changed, though to say anything more would become borderline political.

I'm sure some amount gets "lost" every now and then, but my town isn't full of drunken, high Border agents smoking contraband cigarettes.

I was speaking tongue in cheek

Really only Park Rangers do that consistently.

[BullHorn]

My friends often buy contraband booze/smokes. I don't smoke nor drink, but obviously everyone makes a profit of something.

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by dbhokie

I was speaking tongue in cheek

Really only Park Rangers do that consistently.

Hey, I resemble that remark.

[WalterBush]

Originally Posted by dbhokie

I was speaking tongue in cheek

Really only Park Rangers do that consistently.

Of course, I noticed after posting that he's asking from the UK. I can't speak for what British customs does; might be a different procedure, and different ideas about how it should be enforced/ignored.

Not surprised about Park Rangers. I've worked with some of them, and it wouldn't shock me in the least

[dbhokie]

Your prolly that Park Ranger in Texas who took my weed and smoked it last time I was there :P

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by AcidFripp

They're sold back to the big dealers and the cycle starts again.

Hakuna matata.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by delta7fred

Here in the UK they are supposed to be destroyed.

But when my wife's uncle died they found his shed stacked full of booze. He had been a custom officer at Bristol docks prior to him retiring and was thought to be teetotal. He had such a range of spirits in his shed it looked like an off license. His wife said he never smelled of alcohol or appeared to have been drinking.

Methinks someone was quietly selling off shedbooze on the side, rather than drinking it.

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by dbhokie

Your prolly that Park Ranger in Texas who took my weed and smoked it last time I was there :P

Nope :P I'm a Corps of Engineers ranger right now. I'd get majorly busted :P

[knumbskull]

[Skitch it!]

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by Skitch it!

Good to see the boys in blue taking their work seriously while in uniform.

[elgecko]

This reminds of a skit I saw on a sketch comedy show long ago. The skit posited the question "What's happening at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms right now?" The next scene showed people in an office, hootin' and hollerin', drinking, smoking, and shooting firearms into the ceiling.

[MadMan118]

Its kept in evidence lockup used for trials and sting operations until it's destroyed usually in an incinerator of some sort.

[elgecko]

This!

[Joe Gress]

^rofl!