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Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mulegemichael
you, i am so sorry, are one in a million, of folks who carry alcohol into mexico....there IS no good answer here.....I take many many cases of wine
into mexico every single time we go into mexico.....NOT ONCE in DECADES of taking wine into mexico, have i been questioned about this
excess....maybe, ....just maybe....it's time for me to be questioned....OR....maybe not........wanna roll the dice???????.......i do.
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You are right. it just depends on which agent you talk to and how they are feeling at the time.
I bring more each time I come back. Last time-4 beers, 2 liters of tequila (1 open) 1 bottle of Mexican wine.
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13194
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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We also bring lotsof cases of wine nto Mexico. Only once were we questioned as to why 3 cases???
I looked her in the eye and said " because I like it."
No more questions, that was the end of the story.
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sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
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I have to stop criticizing Mex Immigration and many
of the contradictory regs from the different agencies
in Mex, the US seems to be equally as vague, muddy, there seem to
be 3-4 valid answers here to the OP's question
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
I have to stop criticizing Mex Immigration and many
of the contradictory regs from the different agencies
in Mex, the US seems to be equally as vague, muddy, there seem to
be 3-4 valid answers here to the OP's question |
And every one is sure they are right.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rts551
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
I have to stop criticizing Mex Immigration and many
of the contradictory regs from the different agencies
in Mex, the US seems to be equally as vague, muddy, there seem to
be 3-4 valid answers here to the OP's question |
And every one is sure they are right. |
It's their "control freak" game. They know the rules better than anybody. We just have to play with their ball and stay out of arguments with them.
"YOU CAN'T LITTER ALUMINUM"
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by rts551
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
I have to stop criticizing Mex Immigration and many
of the contradictory regs from the different agencies
in Mex, the US seems to be equally as vague, muddy, there seem to
be 3-4 valid answers here to the OP's question |
And every one is sure they are right. |
It's their "control freak" game. They know the rules better than anybody. We just have to play with their ball and stay out of arguments with them.
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bryanmckenzie
Senior Nomad
Posts: 561
Registered: 9-23-2009
Location: 400 Km from Mexico Beach, Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot & humid --- not hot & dry.
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I understand, Udo. At the time I had California license & plates.
| Quote: | Originally posted by Udo
Good story, Bryan!
But I'm with Bajadoc on this one, since we have South Dakota plates on the car and SD DLs. |
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
-Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)
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bryanmckenzie
Senior Nomad
Posts: 561
Registered: 9-23-2009
Location: 400 Km from Mexico Beach, Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot & humid --- not hot & dry.
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Hi Michael ... just to be clear, I was traveling NORTH into Fortress Amerika ... NOT SOUTH. I've never had an incident Southbound
with alcohol. The worst thing that ever happened southbound at the border was when I supposedly was 'importing' campfire firewood on the roof of the
Suburban and they wanted to charge me an import duty. I raised such a fuss, the officials finally just said (I think), "get out of here, go away,
leave us alone."
| Quote: | Originally posted by mulegemichael
you, i am so sorry, are one in a million, of folks who carry alcohol into mexico....there IS no good answer here.....I take many many cases of wine
into mexico every single time we go into mexico.....NOT ONCE in DECADES of taking wine into mexico, have i been questioned about this
excess....maybe, ....just maybe....it's time for me to be questioned....OR....maybe not........wanna roll the dice???????.......i do.
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[Edited on 2013-11-1 by bryanmckenzie]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
-Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)
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bryanmckenzie
Senior Nomad
Posts: 561
Registered: 9-23-2009
Location: 400 Km from Mexico Beach, Florida
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot & humid --- not hot & dry.
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Thanks DUG. Very informative post. And I truly appreciate your jumping in here. But it raises several questions:
(1) How does a STATE statute trump FEDERAL customs/immigration laws?
| Quote: | | The official rule is that Californians can bring back one closed litre of alcohol per over-21 adult. That's not the federal law, that's a state law.
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(2) If these border agents are expected to know thousands of regulations (agr, contraband, currency, etc), why do we expect them do differentiate
between bottles of alcohol and bottles of olive oil? I've also been sent to secondary inspection for an olive oil 'violation.'
I love the little triangular "hat" clapped onto the hood and being WALKED/escorted by the agent several hundred paces to the inspection area in SLOW
MOTION. I've learned to chat with them a bit on the way (driver's window all the way open); just don't drive faster than that particular individual
feels like walking that day --- that gets a snarl (and delay in 2ndary?).
(3) Be aware that everything that just occurred in your crossing has been monitored by camera, by microphone, by hand-written notes, by things typed
into the computer, probably more (dogs? infrared, etc). All that data will be visible on the computer monitor the next time you cross (or exit the
USA). This I can promise you from my own experience, questions asked, games played, and sometimes, actual ease of crossing a subsequent visit.
Welcome to FORTRESS AMERIKA!
| Quote: | Originally posted by dasubergeek
Bajadock has the right answer.
This past Sunday, three of us crossed with four bottles (three litres, our legal limit). I don't know what happened to the guy at the booth that got
him so peeed off and power-trippy, but he started screaming at us about "an excess of alcohol and an excess of cheese" (we had four kilos of cheese).
I'm assuming he couldn't tell, or didn't want to tell, the difference between bottles of olive oil and bottles of wine. He clapped a hat on the car
and shipped us off to secondary, where we were waved into the agricultural lane and attended to by a very polite, pleasant young man who did a cursory
check, typed things into the computer, and told us we were free to go. (I have SENTRI, the driver has Global Entry, the other passenger had a book, we
were in the regular lanes.)
The official rule is that Californians can bring back one closed litre of alcohol per over-21 adult. That's not the federal law, that's a state law.
The only way around it is to take a LICENSED bus across the border (meaning something like Intercalifornias, not something like the shady vans that
park on Ferrocarril near the staircase to the pedestrian line) and go through the bus line in the building. You may still have to argue with the
guards.
Other states' residents (license plate AND driver licenseyou can't have a California DL and SD plates and call yourself a South Dakotan) can take the
federal limit of five cases or 60 litres through the private-car lines, though they may have to pay duty and they're undoubtedly going to have to
argue the point.
And Dennis is right, 99 percent of the Cuban rum in Mexico is Havana Club, which is viewed on the same level as Bacardi in countries that don't have a
trade embargo against Cuba. It's not that good... and finding the good stuff is hard to do outside of Cancn, Mexico City and Guadalajara.
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[Edited on 2013-11-1 by bryanmckenzie]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
-Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910)
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gorv
Newbie
Posts: 10
Registered: 10-3-2013
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Crossed at Tecate this past Sunday morning heading south; got the green light but we were stopped for inspection. And we were asked about beer and
wine. Told the agent we had 12 bottles of beer and 5 bottles of wine between the 2 of us. After checking the trailer, he asked me where the alcohol
was, so back into the trailer we went and I showed him the bottles. Got the OK and off we went. This is the first time we have ever been asked about
beer or wine heading in to Mexico.
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StuckSucks
Super Nomad
Posts: 2318
Registered: 10-17-2013
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About five years ago, I bought Coors Light to take with us to Baja. I still had lots of cans left when coming back into the US. The border agent said
that I'd need a receipt to prove that I didn't buy the beer in Mexico, otherwise it would be confiscated. They sent me to secondary, I got read the
riot act, then they sent us on our way with all our beer.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by StuckSucks
About five years ago, I bought Coors Light to take with us to Baja. I still had lots of cans left when coming back into the US. The border agent said
that I'd need a receipt to prove that I didn't buy the beer in Mexico, otherwise it would be confiscated. They sent me to secondary, I got read the
riot act, then they sent us on our way with all our beer. |
You got a free pass out of secondary because they didn't think Coors Light was real beer.
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Kgryfon
Senior Nomad
Posts: 624
Registered: 1-27-2009
Location: East Bay, CA
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
| Quote: | Originally posted by StuckSucks
About five years ago, I bought Coors Light to take with us to Baja. I still had lots of cans left when coming back into the US. The border agent said
that I'd need a receipt to prove that I didn't buy the beer in Mexico, otherwise it would be confiscated. They sent me to secondary, I got read the
riot act, then they sent us on our way with all our beer. |
Ha ha! Sorry, you made me laugh. Don't mean to pile on...
You got a free pass out of secondary because they didn't think Coors Light was real beer. |
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dasubergeek
Senior Nomad
Posts: 694
Registered: 8-17-2013
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bryanmckenzie
Thanks DUG. Very informative post. And I truly appreciate your jumping in here. But it raises several questions:
(1) How does a STATE statute trump FEDERAL customs/immigration laws?
| Quote: | | The official rule is that Californians can bring back one closed litre of alcohol per over-21 adult. That's not the federal law, that's a state law.
|
(2) If these border agents are expected to know thousands of regulations (agr, contraband, currency, etc), why do we expect them do differentiate
between bottles of alcohol and bottles of olive oil? I've also been sent to secondary inspection for an olive oil 'violation.'
I love the little triangular "hat" clapped onto the hood and being WALKED/escorted by the agent several hundred paces to the inspection area in SLOW
MOTION. I've learned to chat with them a bit on the way (driver's window all the way open); just don't drive faster than that particular individual
feels like walking that day --- that gets a snarl (and delay in 2ndary?).
(3) Be aware that everything that just occurred in your crossing has been monitored by camera, by microphone, by hand-written notes, by things typed
into the computer, probably more (dogs? infrared, etc). All that data will be visible on the computer monitor the next time you cross (or exit the
USA). This I can promise you from my own experience, questions asked, games played, and sometimes, actual ease of crossing a subsequent visit.
Welcome to FORTRESS AMERIKA!
| Quote: | Originally posted by dasubergeek
Bajadock has the right answer.
This past Sunday, three of us crossed with four bottles (three litres, our legal limit). I don't know what happened to the guy at the booth that got
him so peeed off and power-trippy, but he started screaming at us about "an excess of alcohol and an excess of cheese" (we had four kilos of cheese).
I'm assuming he couldn't tell, or didn't want to tell, the difference between bottles of olive oil and bottles of wine. He clapped a hat on the car
and shipped us off to secondary, where we were waved into the agricultural lane and attended to by a very polite, pleasant young man who did a cursory
check, typed things into the computer, and told us we were free to go. (I have SENTRI, the driver has Global Entry, the other passenger had a book, we
were in the regular lanes.)
The official rule is that Californians can bring back one closed litre of alcohol per over-21 adult. That's not the federal law, that's a state law.
The only way around it is to take a LICENSED bus across the border (meaning something like Intercalifornias, not something like the shady vans that
park on Ferrocarril near the staircase to the pedestrian line) and go through the bus line in the building. You may still have to argue with the
guards.
Other states' residents (license plate AND driver licenseyou can't have a California DL and SD plates and call yourself a South Dakotan) can take the
federal limit of five cases or 60 litres through the private-car lines, though they may have to pay duty and they're undoubtedly going to have to
argue the point.
And Dennis is right, 99 percent of the Cuban rum in Mexico is Havana Club, which is viewed on the same level as Bacardi in countries that don't have a
trade embargo against Cuba. It's not that good... and finding the good stuff is hard to do outside of Cancn, Mexico City and Guadalajara.
|
[Edited on 2013-11-1 by bryanmckenzie] |
I don't know the answer to your question, Bryan, except to point to the state law in question: http://www.abc.ca.gov/permits/importing.html
I think it's ridiculous. I can buy California wine in Baja, why can't I bring Baja wine back up here since it's damn near impossiblewith the
exception of the Whole Foods in Hillcrestto buy it here? But I assume notes were made, and so when I go down on Sunday I'll come up dry, stupid
31-day rule.
We didn't grumble or pee and moan while in secondary, and we didn't confront anyone. We just got someone who was either having a bad day or felt like
he needed to protect the fragile California agricultural system from imported Mexican cheese. Maybe he didn't like my friend or his Mazda wagon. I
have no idea. I almost always go through SENTRI and they're far politer, with the exception of that one person at Otay.
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