Dulles CBP Seizes 924 Packs of Cigarettes from Passenger

A Washington, D.C. resident was detained on Monday after he arrived to Washington Dulles International Airport with 924 packs of cigarettes from Japan. 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized the cigarettes for violation of 19 USC 1497, failure to declare, since the passenger, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, repeatedly declared only possessing two to three cartons.

The passenger lacked an import permit from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau as required by the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.

Authorities seized the cigarettes and released the man, who they did not name because he was not charged.

“There are completely legal options to import large quantities of commercial goods into the United States, but concealing 924 loose packs of cigarettes inside luggage, and importing it without appropriate permits isn’t one,” said CBP Port Director for the Port of Washington, D.C. Christopher Hess. “Customs and Border Protection takes very seriously our mission of facilitating the free flow of legitimate trade and travel; the key word being legitimate.”

The passenger, who flew from Vietnam through Japan to the U.S., initially admitted to possessing fish and cigarettes. A CBP officer referred him to a secondary agriculture inspection where an x-ray instead revealed a large quantity of individual cigarette packs in nearly all of his 10 pieces of luggage.

Officers inspected the luggage and counted a total of 924 loose packs of cigarettes, most wrapped inside blankets. A CBP narcotics detector dog did not alert when it swept the cigarettes.

Brand names included Marlboro, Kent, Craven, White Horse, Mild Seven and Esse, all of which were purchased in Vietnam.