Aduanas

AmbiorixPaulino · #1 06-07-2002, 06:09 AM

For those who travelled post 9/11, have you noticed any significant changes in the thievery that goes on when passing through the country's airports? Are the ladies who I saw put there to look over the staff still looking away? When I went I noticed that they still asked for a few bucks (dollars) to avoid rummaging through your stuff (I'm sure they could afford xray machines and dogs). I'm curious as to whether Mr. Mejia has done anything to alleviate some of the travelling hassles that dominicans and brown tourists encounter because of his people = the overseers who aren't watching.

Criss Colon · #2 06-07-2002, 03:00 PM

Should I stay away from them or something? I,m curious too! Crisco

AmbiorixPaulino · #3 06-08-2002, 06:22 AM

One whose dominant physical features don't resemble those typically attributed to europeans of anglo-saxon decent.

And no, you shouldn't stay away from anyone because of their biological makeup.

Carolina066 · #4 06-08-2002, 02:53 PM

Ambiorix: I had an interesting experience leaving via AILA on Memorial Day 2002. I had traveled from Boston to JKF and on to Aila--took my shoes off often for inspection in the USA but other than that--no problem. Entered AILA and got money changed while waiting for the luggage--no problem. Got through the aduana with no one opening my bags to check anything--is it because I look like a gringa, have a cedula and permanent Dominican residency or because I know everybody by first name and the names of most of their kids--who knows? Anyway, 3 days later when I left, some 18 year old member of the army, confiscated my tiny travel umbrella which was in a little pouch in the bottom of my purse. He said it could be used as a weapon and therefore was not allowed on the plane as a carry-on. He said I could put it in my checked luggage, but, alas, I HAD no checked luggage, just a "bulto" which I was carrying on and there
was no time to check it and make the plane. So what to do?
After a little protest on my part, I handed it over to him, wishing a "feliz dia de las madres a su mama" since of course all the stuff that was left behind by the passengers is taken home by the natives at the end of the day. Just a slice of life from "la bella quisqueya." And nothing like what I went thru to get my car out of the aduana in San Pedro de Macoris back in 1995...but that is another story.

GRS · #5 06-10-2002, 09:36 AM

Monday, June 10, 2002

Searching for the 'stuff' confiscated by airport security
By Thomas C. Palmer, Jr.,
The Boston (MA) Globe

Call it a guest appearance today, or a return to the scene of the crime.
But, while our able colleague is away - probably undercover as a
Turnpike toll taker or an MBTA Green Line inspector - we thought this
true story needed to be told.

When we went through a Northwest Airlines security point at Logan
Airport one recent Saturday afternoon, it was our own fault that a
favored little red penknife went bye-bye. Like thousands of other
travelers, we'd forgotten something in a pocket.

The security folks never even mentioned it; it just didn't come back in
the plastic box with our pennies and nickels.

We inquired about options, but the only one was taking a carry-on bag
back down to check-in, waiting in line, and checking a second piece of
luggage with the penknife secure inside.

There wasn't time, so, lesson learned, we thought the next best thing
would be to find out: What happens to all this stuff?

''It's confiscated,'' security told us. But what does that mean?

Our investigative journey began with a call to Jose Juves, spokesman at
the Massachusetts Port Authority.

''The security checkpoints are now operated by the TSA [Transportation
Security Administration] and not the airlines,'' he said via e-mail.
''Having said that, the TSA is still using security companies and
airline personnel at those checkpoints.''

Call the TSA, he said.

Easier said than done. The TSA has no phone listing in Boston. No phone
listing in Washington, D.C. And no one at the Department of
Transportation, where it has been housed since its post-Sept. 11
creation, knew the number.

So we called the Federal Aviation Administration, which had the number.
Our little heart sank when we heard it was an 866 number (like 800s,
long holding times, boring recordings), but to our surprise Heidi
answered.

Heidi said she'd check on it and call us back.

And she did.

''Once it's confiscated by the screeners, it's usually destroyed,'' she
said. ''The only other option is to call the airline and see if it's
still there, see if they're willing to give it back to you.''

She even apologized for not being able to help more.

We still didn't know: Who disposes of these things, when, where, and
how?

We called Northwest, where an ominous recording said, ''Your call will
probably be returned.''

Northwest would only give us the Lost and Found number, and the woman
there couldn't get off the phone fast enough.

Someone at the ticket counter said, ''We don't hold anything. Used to
hold them. They're turned over to the local police.''

A whole new bureaucracy to call!

Juves assured us that the State Police don't get involved with
penknives, so we pressed Northwest again.

And finally we were given a number at Globe Security, the company that
handles Northwest checkpoints. No one ever answered there.

Globe, however, has a nice site on the World Wide Web.

So we wrote a polite e-mail asking simply: Whatever happened to our
penknife?

That was about a week ago.

Criss Colon · #6 06-10-2002, 10:44 AM

...at "La Guardia.Thanks to him,I have lots of really nice "Swiss Army" knives,"Leatherman" tool kits,"Credit Cards" with files,pens,tweezers,etc.inside! Nothing is destroyed,employees take whatever they want.I have given everyone I know a nice knife! "CRISCO"!