Why are unexpected contraband goods brought in one after another at Kansai Airport, which is visited by approximately 30,000 people every day? We followed the "behind the scenes of the huge airport customs office, preventing smuggling." ■A huge amount of cigarettes in sweets? Kansai Airport is served by 54 routes from around the world, and approximately 30,000 people visit every day. Kansai Airport Customs checks to see if any banned or restricted items are brought in. At 8am, a Vietnamese man arrived. He said he was on a trip to Japan with his family. Customs Officer: "Do you have any cigarettes or anything?" Vietnamese Man: "No, no. With the kids." Customs Officer: "Same? What's in this?" Vietnamese Man: "Clothes." Customs Officer: "Clothes?" However, it wasn't just clothes that were in there, there was also cigarettes... Customs Officer: "Is that all the cigarettes?" The customs officer seemed to sense something was suspicious. He tried to check another suitcase. Then the Vietnamese man... Customs Officer: "Can I see this?" Vietnamese Man: "This is... I don't remember the key number." Customs Officer: "Why don't you know? Isn't it yours?" And the man started to make a phone call somewhere. Vietnamese Man: "What's the key number? Hello? What's the key number? I'm at the baggage check. If it's confiscated, you won't get any money." What does the man mean when he says "you won't get any money"? Customs Officer: "Just some cigarettes?" Vietnamese Man: "Just this." Customs Officer: "The declaration says 0, but what did you put in?" Vietnamese Man: "Snacks." Customs Officer: "Snacks?" The suitcase, whose key number is unknown, contains snacks. Customs Officer: "Whose luggage is this? Isn't it yours? Isn't it your luggage? If it's your luggage, you know the number, right?" The man tells the customs officer the key number and opens it. There was indeed a large box of snacks inside. However, when he opened the box with permission... What came out of the box of snacks was a large amount of cigarettes. Since it is possible that the man brought in cigarettes with the intention of smuggling, the officer decided to interview him in a separate room. Customs Officer: "This is the customs declaration. It says '0' for cigarettes." Vietnamese Man: "I have some cigarettes." Customs Officer: "So you lied when you wrote '0' for cigarettes. You said you only had one, right?" There were 62 cartons of cigarettes, or 12,400 cigarettes. A tax of 186,000 yen will be imposed. Customs Officer: "(The declaration) asks if you received something from someone else, but it says nothing. You." Vietnamese Man: "This is a package that someone else has asked me to carry. They said it was just snacks, so I didn't know what was in it. It was an unopened box of snacks, so I didn't know what was in it either." In fact, it seems that a service that accepts and transports personal luggage is now popular in Vietnam. The going rate is said to be 700 to 800 yen per kilogram. Interpreter: "Is this right? Is this wrong?" Vietnamese man: "It's wrong." The man paid 99,000 yen in tax for the 6,600 cigarettes and voluntarily gave up the remaining cigarettes. ■Rice dumplings found in suitcases Customs inspects luggage when entering Japan. Sometimes unexpected items are brought in. A Chinese woman arrived on a flight from China. Then, inside her suitcase... Customs officials were surprised for a moment. They thought it was a human head, but it was a mannequin. Customs official: "What is this for?" Chinese woman: "Spa" Apparently she brought it in as a massage practice dummy. After inspection, it was OK to bring it in, but it was a bit scary. Inside the suitcase of the woman from Vietnam... When they did an X-ray inspection, they found a suspicious shadow inside the suitcase. Then, what came out... was stuffed to the brim with rice dumplings. We immediately headed to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Counter on the same floor, where livestock and plants are inspected. Quarantine Officer: "Rice dumplings?" From Vietnam: "Yes." Quarantine Officer: "May I open the package?" When I opened the package, I found steamed rice and other large rice dumplings. Quarantine Officer: "May I break it open?" When I actually cut it with a knife, I found eggs and ham inside the steamed rice. The woman said, "I brought a souvenir for a Vietnamese person living in Japan." Steamed rice and boiled eggs are allowed to be brought in, but ham is prohibited as it is a meat. The large rice dumpling was disposed of. ■Gold on the man's necklace? In the first half of this year, 575 kilograms of gold, about 8.3 billion yen, were seized by Osaka Customs. Smuggling by hiding it in luggage is on the rise. In the midst of this, a man from Vietnam arrived. When the customs officer asked, "Do you have any gold products? Are you wearing any gold products?" the man repeatedly replied, "No." The customs officer seemed to think something was suspicious. He checked the man's luggage. From Vietnam "This is medicine. Children's medicine. It will take some time." Then, the female officer called out to another customs officer. It seems that she found something. She pointed out the necklace the man was wearing. Customs officer: "Why didn't you say anything at the beginning? You knew, right?" We decided to hear more in another room. Customs officer: "(Gold) 37.3 grams (about 500,000 yen). Appraisal time 9:05. You know they are cracking down on gold, right?" Man: "I know." Customs officer: "You should tell us when you know the customs are investigating. It will lead to arrests. This is called seizure, and we will listen to you and write the documents. You will have to come back at a later date." When bringing gold into Japan, you must declare it even if it is a personal item. The man tried to bring in more than 200,000 yen in gold without declaring it, so he had to pay a fine. ■ Fake? Real? "It's hard to tell the difference" Approximately 220,000 items of counterfeit brand goods and other intellectual property infringing goods were seized by Osaka Customs, and about 80% of them were from China. A Chinese woman arrived on a flight from Shanghai at 3:30pm. She runs a company and apparently travels all over the world. Customs Officer: "Do you have anything to declare to customs?" Chinese Woman: "No." Customs Officer: "Can I see your bag?" Chinese Woman: "I was in Europe." A wallet comes out of the suitcase. Then, one after another, brand-name items come out. Are these mine, or...? Customs Officer: "New?" Chinese Woman: "It looks new." Customs Officer: "Who are you giving this to?" Chinese Woman: "A friend." Customs Officer: "Wait a minute, what's this?" Then, a brand-name bag comes out. Inside is the bag's card... We head to another room to hear more details. Customs Officer: "Do you have anything to declare to customs?" Woman: "No." Customs Officer: "What's this? They're all brand-name, like Vuitton and Saint Laurent, right?" Woman: "I use that bag. It's new." Even if it's an expensive item, if it's something you use on a daily basis, it's not subject to tax. However, if you bring in something you bought while traveling and say you're using it, you will be taxed. Customs Officer: "It's too clean to be used, and you still have your Louis Vuitton card in it. If you were using it, they would take it away." Woman: "I just have it. I use it." Customs Officer: "When did you buy it?" Woman: "A year ago." Customs Officer: "Why does it still have your card in it, something you bought a year ago? It's too clean." Woman: "Because I got it." Customs Officer: "You bought it, didn't you?" Woman: "I didn't buy it. It was bought for me." The woman said, "I bought it," but then she started saying, "A friend bought it for me." Then... Customs Officer: "Isn't this a men's bag? It's not a women's bag. That's right. This bag is also a men's bag. Why did you bring it here? It's not something you would use yourself. Would a woman go out of her way to buy a man's bag and give it to you, a woman? This will be treated as a souvenir worth over 200,000 yen." Among the most expensive brand items, a bag, wallet, and belt, are taxed at approximately 70,000 yen. Woman: "But I can't tell if it's real or not." Customs official: "What? It's fake? That's a crime. If it's fake, that's a crime in itself." The woman complained, "I can't tell if it's real or fake." After this, the brand-name goods were confirmed to be real, and the woman paid tax and entered the country. From now until the end of the year, the work of the huge airport customs office, which is trying to prevent smuggling at the border, will become even busier. [TV Asahi News] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp