Customs.

kneemos

Watching an Australian customs programme,as you do at 6am.
Struck me that none of these people have obviously ever heard of the interweb.One guy had a knuckle duster,others had a tiny amount of cannabis and some sort of banned seed.

Ever been caught with something you shouldn't oughta have had ?

DEFTLEFTHAND

Irish customs are notoriously laxed, that's how the Kinahan's get all the dope into the country. :eek:

racso1975

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Irish customs are notoriously laxed, that's how the Kinahan's get all the dope into the country. :eek:

I know it's awful we cant be drug free like rest of the civilised world :rolleyes:

sabat

Every one of those episodes is the same. Always with the Chinese grannies smuggling food.

FluffyAngel

I got caught with 90 kilos of dope ...

i hope that nobody ever has to go through what i experinced ,it was demeaning to the body and soul
friends looked at me and shyed away

it eventually ended up in court after 5 years and the judge (god bless his cotton socks) saw sense and gave me what i deserved


that day i walked free from court was the sweetest ,kindness moment of my life ..
The air was different ,people were kinder

Each step took on a whole new meaning

dare i say it ,i felt free

il never forget the judges parting words to me ,Dave your now a free and divorced man ..enjoy ...

chrysagon

FluffyAngel wrote: »

I got caught with 90 kilos of dope ...

i hope that nobody ever has to go through what i experinced ,it was demeaning to the body and soul
friends looked at me and shyed away

it eventually ended up in court after 5 years and the judge (god bless his cotton socks) saw sense and gave me what i deserved


that day i walked free from court was the sweetest ,kindness moment of my life ..
The air was different ,people were kinder

Each step took on a whole new meaning

dare i say it ,i felt free

il never forget the judges parting words to me ,Dave your now a free and divorced man ..enjoy ...

yer ex weighed 90 kgs...:rolleyes:

Buona Fortuna

sabat wrote: »

Every one of those episodes is the same. Always with the Chinese grannies smuggling food.

Yeah some Ozzie prick shouting at some asian grannie

"Hey Grannie ya can't take an orange off the plane. Now we're genna havta strip seach ya and send ya back home"

RobYourBuilder

Caught that show once or twice. Australian customs and immigration staff seem highly competent. Ever see the clip where they rumbled the Irish chap?

harrymagina

Got charged a fortune for 200 anal plugs.

Sunnyisland

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Irish customs are notoriously laxed, that's how the Kinahan's get all the dope into the country. :eek:

Yea the USA with its war on drugs, billions spend fighting it, use of foreign countries armed forces, all in a bid to stop the flow of illegal drugs across its borders is doing such a fine job.

It's good job for them they are not up against the Irish gangsters.

The Royal Scam

I remember last year there while queuing to get onto the boat in France. There was 3 armed guards like swat dudes going around the cars and sussing shīt out. 2 of them had sniffer dogs.
1 of them was working the cars and the other was walking along the top of an artic.....
When I arrived back in Ireland we were met by the equivalent. A big chunky lad with a Garda windbreaker doing the perfect slouch on plastic chair and a dog fast asleep with it's 4 legs up in the air on the ground beside him.
Welcome to Ireland.

Sunnyisland

The Royal Scam wrote: »

I remember last year there while queuing to get onto the boat in France. There was 3 armed guards like swat dudes going around the cars and sussing shīt out. 2 of them had sniffer dogs.
1 of them was working the cars and the other was walking along the top of an artic.....
When I arrived back in Ireland we were met by the equivalent. A big chunky lad with a Garda windbreaker doing the perfect slouch on plastic chair and a dog fast asleep with it's 4 legs up in the air on the ground beside him.
Welcome to Ireland.

Wish I lived in drug free France...what's with all the Irish customs bashing ??

RobYourBuilder

realies wrote: »

Wish I lived in drug free France...what's with all the Irish customs bashing ??

They are not very good. The GNIB lads in the passport control huts barely even look at your passport when coming in. Compare and contrast with the Australians immigration and customs officials.

DEFTLEFTHAND

realies wrote: »

Yea the USA with its war on drugs, billions spend fighting it, use of foreign countries armed forces, all in a bid to stop the flow of illegal drugs across its borders is doing such a fine job.

It's good job for them they are not up against the Irish gangsters.

What I'm saying is that Irish customs is not up to scratch, I've come back from places and have had a sleepy guard half checking passports and grunting. It's bloody ridiculous, I want to be searched and have sniffer dogs and custom officers go over my luggage.

We're seen as being soft in these areas.

relax carry on

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

What I'm saying is that Irish customs is not up to scratch, I've come back from places and have had a sleepy guard half checking passports and grunting. It's bloody ridiculous, I want to be searched and have sniffer dogs and custom officers go over my luggage.

We're seen as being soft in these areas.

Customs aren't in charge of immigration issues, that's the Gardai. And you want everyone coming to Ireland via airports and ports to be searched? 1 Are you OK? 2 How would you fund this and the avalanche of complaints this would entail? How would you get around EU legislation re the freedom of movement within its borders?

Jawgap

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

They are not very good. The GNIB lads in the passport control huts barely even look at your passport when coming in. Compare and contrast with the Australians immigration and customs officials.

Coming back from a trip a few years ago and it was only after we'd got through the GNIB checks I realised myself and my son had each other's passports - all the same I was flattered the copper thought I looked 14!

Rabo Karabekian

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

What I'm saying is that Irish customs is not up to scratch, I've come back from places and have had a sleepy guard half checking passports and grunting. It's bloody ridiculous, I want to be searched and have sniffer dogs and custom officers go over my luggage.

We're seen as being soft in these areas.

I presume they are checking your details when you're on the plane. If you're coming from somewhere dodgy or your flight itinerary history is interesting, this would probably be flagged. But coming from an EU country with all the checks done, then you're free to go.

mad muffin

Irish customs and border security

mfceiling

The best one was my wife's friend coming back from her holidays. As she neared the customs clearance she started to go through her handbag to locate her passport. She was tearing through the bag at a rate of knots and was getting agitated that she couldn't find it. The customs official looked at her and then says "ah sure go on ahead, you look Irish enough"...

Running Balance

Our GAA club went to Coventry one year for a weekend. One of the guys had to pull out at the last minute and another lad took his place. Couldn't change flight details so he just travelled on the other guys passport and no issues in Shannon or Coventry for passport check.

RobYourBuilder

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

They are not very good. The GNIB lads in the passport control huts barely even look at your passport when coming in. Compare and contrast with the Australians immigration and customs officials.

Like everything else with Australians they are a pain in the arse when it comes to customs too judging by that programme.

I'd much prefer it here where you can walk into the country with out automatically being assumed to be a criminal. There shouldn't even be border control on flights form within the EU to Ireland anyway and from Flights outside the eu they do check more. Just be thankful customs don't check more or all the cheap clothes and electronics we buy in the US would be more difficult to bring in too.

The_Valeyard

Anyone remember the episode where they had the Irish redhead guy on and used subtitles to explain what he was saying?

Ghost Train

Got a talking to for not declaring a box of chocolates when arriving in australia

I was able to hang on to them

kneemos

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Anyone remember the episode where they had the Irish redhead guy on and used subtitles to explain what he was saying?

I had trouble catching most of it in fairness.

Collie D

sabat wrote: »

Every one of those episodes is the same. Always with the Chinese grannies smuggling food.

What is the deal with that? Is there a warning on the Chinese Dept. of Foreign Affairs website saying "Australia is experiencing severe famine. Bring as much food as you can carry or you may starve to death"?

kneemos

Collie D wrote: »

What is the deal with that? Is there a warning on the Chinese Dept. of Foreign Affairs website saying "Australia is experiencing severe famine. Bring as much food as you can carry or you may starve to death"?

It's usually frog gizzards and lizard eyes and other such obscure and appetising animal parts.

smurfjed

If you're coming from somewhere dodgy or your flight itinerary history is interesting, this would probably be flagged

I doubt it as they have never stopped me

foggy_lad

sabat wrote: »

Every one of those episodes is the same. Always with the Chinese grannies smuggling food.

kneemos wrote: »

It's usually frog gizzards and lizard eyes and other such obscure and appetising animal parts.

They are usually items which cost a small fortune in Australia and are usually brought in illegally for restaurants in Australia, they seem to think that the grannies won't get checked but when they have several times their bodyweight in luggage it is going to raise an eyebrow!

Micky Dolenz

I traveled to Australia in the middle of the Foot and Mouth crisis. By God it was madness on the Oz side. Thought they were going to put us into quarantine.

That show is gas though, "Step away from the Noddles, Granny"

Frogeye

The Royal Scam wrote: »

I remember last year there while queuing to get onto the boat in France. There was 3 armed guards like swat dudes going around the cars and sussing shīt out. 2 of them had sniffer dogs.
1 of them was working the cars and the other was walking along the top of an artic.....
When I arrived back in Ireland we were met by the equivalent. A big chunky lad with a Garda windbreaker doing the perfect slouch on plastic chair and a dog fast asleep with it's 4 legs up in the air on the ground beside him.
Welcome to Ireland.

But sure hadn't the french lads done all the work on their side so why did he need to bother? Efficient use of resources if you ask me. No point sniffing you twice!

Tope

Here’s an odd one, maybe someone can figure out the reasoning behind it. I went to Amsterdam last year, and while waiting to board the plane in Dublin airport (after check-in), a couple of customs guys with a sniffer dog came along and we all had to line up and let the dog sniff us. They didn’t stop anyone and off we went.
Then after arriving in Amsterdam, there were plenty of guards with sniffer dogs around Schiphol train station (attached to the airport) – I saw one girl get stopped and searched when the dog took an interest in her backpack.
But on the flight home a few days later - me slightly nervous as my (empty) coat pockets were exuding a suspicious aroma - we didn’t see one sniffer dog. None in Schiphol airport, and none in Dublin when we arrived home.

What’s the logic there, eh? Surely searching people arriving from Amsterdam would make more sense? Or do they think giving us a warning sniff on the way out would be enough to discourage any funny business on the way back?

Duck's hoop

Looking for cash.

YFlyer

Running Balance wrote: »

Our GAA club went to Coventry one year for a weekend. One of the guys had to pull out at the last minute and another lad took his place. Couldn't change flight details so he just travelled on the other guys passport and no issues in Shannon or Coventry for passport check.

So he was ignored and send to Coventry?

Mech1

We flew from Dublin to Majorca and back with our then 5 year old boy.

His coat was only put on in dublin before leaving the car in the long term and again 2 weeks later, just before going into the airport in Majorca on the return journey.

To say I was shocked and surprised when he pulled his toy metal cap gun out in the car on the way home would be an understatement!

It had passed through 2 airport security checks twice, and was full metal realistic looking.

He's 16 now so 11 years ago.

Jamsiek

There's a Canadian show too called "Border Security". It's usually American rednecks trying to bring their guns across or Chinese freaks with their shark fins or sea horses. Very entertaining.
I think it's inevitable that things are going to have to get a lot stricter in Ireland, it's very lax in fairness, so much so that it's scary. We think we are immune from international terrorism, we are not!

Peregrine

I was transitting through Manchester a few years ago and I had to leave the building and walk to another terminal to catch my next flight. I walked from the aircraft to the taxi ranks outside in 5 mins and not once did I even see an immigration officer nor was I asked for any form of ID by anyone.

That was a flight from Dublin. However, there were plenty of armed police officers near the check-in desks for my onward flight to [I think it was] Doha..

Later, I realised that I wasn't an EU citizen at the time and didn't have a British visa so I shouldn't have been allowed outside the airport at all. Sure, I could have gone anywhere :eek:

spiralism

Tope wrote: »

Here’s an odd one, maybe someone can figure out the reasoning behind it. I went to Amsterdam last year, and while waiting to board the plane in Dublin airport (after check-in), a couple of customs guys with a sniffer dog came along and we all had to line up and let the dog sniff us. They didn’t stop anyone and off we went.
Then after arriving in Amsterdam, there were plenty of guards with sniffer dogs around Schiphol train station (attached to the airport) – I saw one girl get stopped and searched when the dog took an interest in her backpack.
But on the flight home a few days later - me slightly nervous as my (empty) coat pockets were exuding a suspicious aroma - we didn’t see one sniffer dog. None in Schiphol airport, and none in Dublin when we arrived home.

What’s the logic there, eh? Surely searching people arriving from Amsterdam would make more sense? Or do they think giving us a warning sniff on the way out would be enough to discourage any funny business on the way back?

This has happened to me as well, i have flown from Holland back to Dublin on several occasions and have never been searched but i have been sniffed and quizzed in Schiphol.

I do tend to worry each time i go home though, ive known enough people here who have made an honest mistake and left something they shouldn't have in a pair of jeans in a suitcase or the like. Never have though, i do try to be extra careful when packing as a result

djflawless

spiralism wrote: »

I do tend to worry each time i go home though, ive known enough people here who have made an honest mistake and left something they shouldn't have in a pair of jeans in a suitcase or the like. Never have though, i do try to be extra careful when packing as a result

To be fair to customs, I'm sure they won't be calling for guards, eru etc for the likes of small amounts found on people/in luggage coming back from the Dam.
Friend of mine got caught with €50 Irish value of resin and got a bollocking for half an hour and caution..

RobYourBuilder

Rene Orange Write-off wrote: »

Like everything else with Australians they are a pain in the arse when it comes to customs too judging by that programme.

I'd much prefer it here where you can walk into the country with out automatically being assumed to be a criminal. There shouldn't even be border control on flights form within the EU to Ireland anyway and from Flights outside the eu they do check more. Just be thankful customs don't check more or all the cheap clothes and electronics we buy in the US would be more difficult to bring in too.

Yes, who gives a bollix about who or what gets into the country. All that matters is that you can bring back gadgets and Hollister from America without any hassle.

steddyeddy

Just went through customs the weekend. The customs guy barely looked at my passport

Plates

steddyeddy wrote: »

Just went through customs the weekend. The customs guy barely looked at my passport

That's not customs, it's immigration control.

Steodonn

Getting a plane in Dublin a few years back ( 2008ish) had a bottle-opener/corkscrew in my carry on luggage I'd forgotten to take out. My bag got searched and the security lad took it out and just looked at me. Told him I'd forgot it was in there and he could bin it hoping it wouldn't be too big a deal and he drops in back in the bag hand it to me and sends me onto the plane relived and slightly worried

MugMugs

steddyeddy wrote: »

Just went through customs the weekend. The customs guy barely looked at my passport

Customs don't check passports.

Immigration check passports.

RobYourBuilder

It's common for people to refer to passport control as customs. He used the wrong terminology. You know exactly what he meant.

elefant

Nim wrote: »

I was transitting through Manchester a few years ago and I had to leave the building and walk to another terminal to catch my next flight. I walked from the aircraft to the taxi ranks outside in 5 mins and not once did I even see an immigration officer nor was I asked for any form of ID by anyone.

That was a flight from Dublin. However, there were plenty of armed police officers near the check-in desks for my onward flight to [I think it was] Doha..

Later, I realised that I wasn't an EU citizen at the time and didn't have a British visa so I shouldn't have been allowed outside the airport at all. Sure, I could have gone anywhere :eek:

I believe this is the norm in the Common Travel Area; once you're in Ireland or the UK you will not necessarily be checked by passport control when you travel between the two.

It's also likely happen if you traveled between Schengen Agreement nations in Europe.

MugMugs

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

It's common for people to refer to passport control as customs. He used the wrong terminology. You know exactly what he meant.

One is Revenue, the other is An Garda Siochana.

If you lost your foot in an unfortunate accident involving a coffee grinder in your kitchen in the plains of Dublin City, would you call the Coast Guard, The Gardai or an Ambulance?

kneemos

MugMugs wrote: »

One is Revenue, the other is An Garda Siochana.

If you lost your foot in an unfortunate accident involving a coffee grinder in your kitchen in the plains of Dublin City, would you call the Coast Guard, The Gardai or an Ambulance?

Call the Ambulance and be sure to ask for the driver by name.

seamus

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

They are not very good. The GNIB lads in the passport control huts barely even look at your passport when coming in. Compare and contrast with the Australians immigration and customs officials.

To be fair, the last five or six times I've come through immigration, they've actually taken the passport and given it a glance. Most of these were coming from London.
I remember the good old days when the guys would sit there waving on everyone who looked Irish and stopping anyone with weird clothes or dark skin :rolleyes:

Other countries' immigration desks appear to be stricter - they take the passport, look at it, look at you, look at it - but then we don't experience it as locals. There's every chance that French immigration when they see a French passport, just glance at it and let them through.
Occasionally going through Heathrow I've just held the passport up for them and been waved through.
They know what flights are coming through and if it's coming from Ireland they tend to not care.

fizzypish

I was flying Dublin to Schiphol recently. Had a years supply of my OH's prescription medication in my hand luggage. It wasn't even mentioned. I concluded that customs must assume that no one in their right mind would ever bother smuggling drugs into Amsterdam!

shruikan2553

They had a dog looking for stuff before we all got on a plane to Amsterdam. No idea who would be trying to bring drugs to Amsterdam.

Tinder Surprise

Friend recently got his phone phone swabbed at the Security check in a U.K airport.

Is this a new thing?