Jump to content
  • entries
    42
  • comments
    120
  • views
    3,174

And Now I Know - Tocumen Baggage Inspection Experience


Marcelyn

830 views

A new experience at Tocumen last week. My one bag was stopped by a determined Custom inspector who asked me three times what food I had. Tried to assure “no food,” but she directed me to the inspection station where I had to open my luggage. Took her about two minutes to locate my bottle of water and a handful of candy mints I had dropped into the side pocket.

The interesting part of this experience was my 50 minute delay caused by the lady in front of me. She had three suitcases all wrapped in plastic. The inspector used scissors and removed the plastic covering and proceeded to remove various items from the woman’s bags. Two rolls of sausage (about five pounds each), several bottles of wine (I think six total), and various types of snack foods...looked like crackers and dips.

The inspector kept all the food. Needless to say, the bags were now pretty empty and the owner didn’t look happy. We wondered if this woman was headed to a party or had just cleaned all remaining food from a festival gathering!

5 Comments


Recommended Comments

Was this coming into Panama at the large xRay machines where usually nobody is ever questioned?  Did they quiz you before or after your bags were scanned?

Link to comment

Yes, this happened at the large X-ray machines and after my bag was scanned.

Couldn’t figure what food item the inspector thought she saw in my luggage, but she was determined I had food. She did seem embarrassed when she only discovered my bottle of water and a few mints.

P.S. I noticed this woman (there were three inspectors) opened luggage from female passengers only.

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...