> Customs people tend to also be more corrupt in many countries.
Ha! I was flying from a East European country. At the Customs at the airport someone was stopped over something they couldn't bring in. I overheard him tell the customs officer "hey let's step over to the side and 'figure this out'". 'Figure this out' is euphemism for "I'll pay you some money or drop some names and you'll let me in".
I remember hearing from someone I know intimately of an awesome deal worked out where someone could hypothetically "steal" his own packages from the airside of an airport, for $20, to bypass months of customs impound (no duty was payable, including the 5% reconstruction levy, since the actual items were going to exempt parties such as the national government).
Ha! I was flying from a East European country. At the Customs at the airport someone was stopped over something they couldn't bring in. I overheard him tell the customs officer "hey let's step over to the side and 'figure this out'". 'Figure this out' is euphemism for "I'll pay you some money or drop some names and you'll let me in".