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Hello everyone , newbie here. Just done a baccy run to belgium 21/04, being a single male in a car I had a feeling I was going to get pulled. I had 5kg of hand rolling baccy and 1200 cigarettes.
Quite a few ukba staff present , asked me to stop;
Ukba officer: where have you been today sir?
Me: for a day trip to france and belgium
Ukba officer: what was the purpose of your trip?
Me: a shopping trip which I bought some french produce , belgium chocolates , cigarettes and baccy.
Ukba officer: how much tobacco are you carrying sir?
Me: 5kg amber leaf
Ukba officer: how often do you travel abroad?
Me: every few months as I got a house in france.however this is the first time I bought baccy on my trips.
Ukba officer: is this your car?
Me: yes
Ukba officer: how long have you owned it?
Me: comming upto 3 years.
Ukba officer: that's fine have a safe journey , goodbye
Been doing a bit of reading on the forum , will defently make a sot folder and invest in a voice recorder.
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Welcome to the forums and nice to see an opening post where someone has returned with a reasonable amount of baccy & cigs intact
Obviously you met an officer with a reasonable attitude - was this Dover or Coquelles?
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Hello people,
I just want to start by saying what a great resource this site is.I have been swotting up here for about the last month or so as I have been under the delusion that the baccy guide lines was still 3kgs.Yes I know the posters are up all over the place,but when you think you know it you don't look.
Anyway when realising the problems I could face, I travel In the Tunnel twice a year,3 kgs each time,
I have invested in a Sony recorder & all the various forms that you advise.I was stopped about 4 years ago when 3 kgs was still acceptable & the way I was questioned made me feel like a criminal & then the officer said that my car could be forfeit,which set me off howling.Big Girls Blouse Syndrome i'm afraid.
So today,armed with spreadsheet ,SOT, FOI re recording & diligent counting of fags rolled per pack plus trusty recorder,I had a totally miserable day with my friend dreading coming home.
Stopped at Passport Control Coquelles & an eery voice from the back of booth called out "Can you open your rear window please?"
He asked where we had been ,reply supermarket for wine & Adinkerke for 3kgs hand rolling tobacco.I decided to state precisely how much frrom the start.I suspect he was alerted to the big black plastic bag holding tobacco,which I carefully placed on the mountain of wine,well within limits by the way.
I remember that you say to make it easily seen.He proceeded to ask questions about my car,if it was mine,how long had I owned it,which although perfectly civil,was vaguely threatening considering I had heard it put more baldly previously.
The upshot is we were told to proceed.Very nice of course & all recorded.The problem is if he had been persistent,I am not great with conflict,I guess most folks aren't,but at least I felt I had some backup with the info I had.
So in a nutshell.The guy had a job to do,& did it proficiently for my outcome.But a uniform makes me quiver like a jelly & not in a good way.I can see that this job makes Jobsworths & vindictive folk the happiest & most unpleasant people to meet.
I am thankful I was armed with some knowledge & resource with my trusty recorder & I thank you all ,from some peoples awful experiences ,& you knowledgable ones for all your sharing.
As a matter of interest,has anyone been victimised with a moderate ie 3-5 kgs armed with the aforementioned forms & recorder?
Yours forever grateful,& getting slightly tipsy with my loot from Calais Wine,
Deb
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I have been interrogated with less than half that amount,and armed with recording devices,always be o your toes,did you record the conversation at passport control? always recomended to switch on before you reach passport control.
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Thanks Warrior.Yes switched it on whilst waiting in the queue.