BajaNomad

60 liters of alcohol ?

AZ7000 - 2-26-2019 at 03:06 PM

I think its closer to one per adult 21 or over... not sure exactly

mojo_norte - 2-26-2019 at 03:33 PM

Sorry - that's by air - 1 liter by road

thebajarunner - 2-26-2019 at 03:42 PM

Complicated answer
California is one liter limit
Other states, other limits

Also, come in by common carrier on the ground you have a different limit.

bajagrouper - 2-26-2019 at 04:29 PM

A California resident or any other person crossing the international border via common carrier may bring in a reasonable quantity of alcoholic beverages (up to five cases or 60 liters) provided the beverages are for personal or household use.

https://www.abc.ca.gov/permits/importing.html

mojo_norte - 2-26-2019 at 04:41 PM

So 60 liters.

Non-California residents crossing the international border in a vehicle that is not a common carrier can bring with them a reasonable quantity of alcoholic beverages (up to five cases or 60 liters) provided the beverages are for personal or household use.


Tax-Free is the Key

MrBillM - 2-26-2019 at 04:49 PM

Which is ONE every 31 days. The other 59 would be subject to Federal tax.

[Edited on 2-26-2019 by MrBillM]

mojo_norte - 2-26-2019 at 05:00 PM

So 60 liters.

Non-California residents crossing the international border in a vehicle that is not a common carrier can bring with them a reasonable quantity of alcoholic beverages (up to five cases or 60 liters) provided the beverages are for personal or household use.


mtgoat666 - 2-26-2019 at 07:52 PM

Why would you want to bring 60 liters of alcohol from Mexico? A liter or 2 of tequila will last me a couple years. Sorry, tequila just isn’t that good and there are many better whiskeys and liquors in this world that cost lesS and taste better. The cheap tequila is rot gut. The good stuff is too expensive. The beer and wine not worth bringing home, way better beers and wines available here in the USA.

[Edited on 2-27-2019 by mtgoat666]

mojo_norte - 2-27-2019 at 02:41 PM

Didn't say I was bringing 60 - After the winter down here I have some residual that I haven't consumed (I over bought at Costco).

thebajarunner - 2-27-2019 at 07:09 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Why would you want to bring 60 liters of alcohol from Mexico? A liter or 2 of tequila will last me a couple years. Sorry, tequila just isn’t that good and there are many better whiskeys and liquors in this world that cost lesS and taste better. The cheap tequila is rot gut. The good stuff is too expensive. The beer and wine not worth bringing home, way better beers and wines available here in the USA.

[Edited on 2-27-2019 by mtgoat666]


I can certainly understand that someone who drinks wine out of screw cap bottle with a straw likely is not interested in exploring and bringing back some of the very nice varieties from the Guadalupe Valley. Too bad, they have some very nice options, amongst a lot of fairly pedestrian stuff.

Also, I don't know a US domestic watery brew that I would prefer to a Pacifico, but then my Costco has it at a decent price so no need to make a border run for that brew.

John Harper - 2-27-2019 at 07:31 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mojo_norte  
Didn't say I was bringing 60 - After the winter down here I have some residual that I haven't consumed (I over bought at Costco).


What? You brought it down to drink it?

Drink it! No survivors!

John

[Edited on 2-28-2019 by John Harper]

Only Watery U.S. Brews ?

MrBillM - 2-27-2019 at 07:58 PM

While I haven't ever shopped at a U.S. Costco for Beer, I would be surprised to find that their choices are limited to either Pacifico or watery domestic selections.

That said, Pacifico is an OK (or better) choice (among many Mex brews) when buying in Mexico.

North of the border where Stella Artois, Guinness, Heineken and (less commonly) Steinlager are readily available at the same price ............. Why Bother ?

There is NEVER a (good) reason to drink "watery" (Light) Beer.

Those that I've heard often justify same over caloric content are obviously drinking too much.

[Edited on 2-28-2019 by MrBillM]

BajaMama - 2-28-2019 at 08:40 AM

Do they sell Oban in Mexico? If so I would be inclined to import my 1 liter CA resident quota...

Hook - 2-28-2019 at 09:19 AM

Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner  
Complicated answer
California is one liter limit
Other states, other limits

Also, come in by common carrier on the ground you have a different limit.


When I had South Dakota plates and a South Dakota DL, I asked the guy at the gate how much I could bring back, because I had heard it's the amount that your state allows. This was at an AZ crossing. He said it didn't matter; one liter by road is all they allow. Period.

This was only about 4-5 years ago, not ancient history.

bajaguy - 2-28-2019 at 09:25 AM

Hook - Ran into that problem crossing at San Ysidro a few years ago while bringing beer into the US. In secondary talked to several CBP agents including the on-duty port supervisor. About 6 agents, including the port supervisor gave different answers to the same question regarding alcohol imports. Best bet is to print out the CBP regs and the California ABC regs and have them with you
Quote: Originally posted by Hook  
Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner  
Complicated answer
California is one liter limit
Other states, other limits

Also, come in by common carrier on the ground you have a different limit.


When I had South Dakota plates and a South Dakota DL, I asked the guy at the gate how much I could bring back, because I had heard it's the amount that your state allows. This was at an AZ crossing. He said it didn't matter; one liter by road is all they allow. Period.

This was only about 4-5 years ago, not ancient history.

David K - 2-28-2019 at 09:31 AM

I have had my few cans of beer, over the personal limit of 3, taken at the border. 1 liter is all you are allowed. At least for California residents.

John Harper - 2-28-2019 at 09:32 AM

Quote: Originally posted by MrBillM  

North of the border where Stella Artois, Guinness, Heineken and (less commonly) Steinlager are readily available at the same price ............. Why Bother ?


Don't forget St. Pauli Girl, my personal favorite.

John

David K - 2-28-2019 at 09:39 AM

I thought for sure that someone would mention Rolling Rock! LOL

HeyMulegeScott - 2-28-2019 at 03:29 PM

Baja has some excellent craft beer and wine you can't get in the US.

Udo - 3-3-2019 at 04:58 PM

I would like to throw in my two centavos on this one since I was one of the non-California residents that were busted for bringing a case of wine into California (AND declaring it).

In my instance, I have a non-California driver's lic. and a non-California license plates.
I was pulled into secondary (with my SENTRI pass). My wife and I were made to sit in detention in the CBP office for 3 hours and not allowed to leave the room to go to the bathroom.

The CBP officers ran a security investigation on the two of us. After the 3 hours we were told that we could only bring on liter per person and was told that we had to return the other 10 bottles back to Mexico before we were allowed on our journey. We temporarily lost our SENTRI passes until we visited with a CBP supervisor 6 weeks later.

We had in our possession a copy of the above-printed document that Bajagrouper cites. I also took that same copy to the supervisor appointment.

His explanation is that the above document is subject to interpretation by the officers reading it, and that the word "IMPORTATION" is also subject to interpretation.

In the end, we received our SENTRI passes back, with a black mark on our border crossing records.

Dealing with the feds will lower your IQ

thebajarunner - 3-3-2019 at 05:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Udo  
I would like to throw in my two centavos on this one since I was one of the non-California residents that were busted for bringing a case of wine into California (AND declaring it).

In my instance, I have a non-California driver's lic. and a non-California license plates.
I was pulled into secondary (with my SENTRI pass). My wife and I were made to sit in detention in the CBP office for 3 hours and not allowed to leave the room to go to the bathroom.

The CBP officers ran a security investigation on the two of us. After the 3 hours we were told that we could only bring on liter per person and was told that we had to return the other 10 bottles back to Mexico before we were allowed on our journey. We temporarily lost our SENTRI passes until we visited with a CBP supervisor 6 weeks later.

We had in our possession a copy of the above-printed document that Bajagrouper cites. I also took that same copy to the supervisor appointment.

His explanation is that the above document is subject to interpretation by the officers reading it, and that the word "IMPORTATION" is also subject to interpretation.

In the end, we received our SENTRI passes back, with a black mark on our border crossing records.


Typical fed answer....make it up on the fly.
For years I had to deal with IRS
If you lie to an IRS agent you go to jail
If IRS agent lies to you (which they did often) it is called "strategic policy"