LYNDEN, Wash. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations at the Kenneth G Ward rejected a Canadian citizen’s entry into the United States Nov. 28 when he was caught sneaking commercial goods into the United States to avoid duties and taxes.
apparent attempt to smuggle Blu-Rays
through the Kenneth G. Ward Port of entry
in Lynden, Washington, on Nov. 28.
The 47-year-old resident of Langley, British Columbia, had been making multiple trips every week into the States. He always told officers he was coming down to get gas and had no commercial merchandise. Officers sent him to secondary for closer inspection after noticing excessive padding and bulges in his clothing.
A pat-down was ordered and revealed he was concealing 24 Blu-Ray movies, all packaged, labeled and invoiced, all ready to send via the U.S. Postal Service to his online buyers. He had four movies under each sleeve, five more in the back of his shirt, 10 more in various pockets of his jacket and the rest were concealed in his undergarments.
Port Director Phillip Stanford said, “By his own admission, he’s been doing it for quite some time because he wanted to avoid paying the duties and fees associated with commercial activity. This time the CBP officers’ training and experience paid off, and the DVD smuggler got caught.”
With multiple crossings through Lynden in November, it was not known whether he had commercial goods each time. He told officers he only concealed movies in his clothing when he had big orders to fill. He also admitted he always used the same story about coming down for gas.
He was escorted back to Canada by CBP officers without incident.