So ... its 1:30am here and I get a phone call from a life-long friend of mine. I am woken up in the middle of the night because of this. I know its not exactly a business-related question but I assume that some of the legal gurus here might be able to answer it. A week ago he decided (while drunk) to order some generic viagra off the internet (from India) and it seems that the package may have been seized. He thought it would be a funny joke, supposedly. During the process, he said that one of the forms automatically filled out a doctor prescription or something like that. Now, is there anything that can happen to him specifically now? He is Canadian and only 24 years old. Generally speaking, he is an alright guy. He decided to call me as he thought I would know, but I have never run into any trouble with customs. He is very worried about getting fined or worse. I was told that for these type of situations (and if its a first time) its more so a letter of seizure, but again, I have never had any dealings with customs. Any ideas? Sorry if this is somewhat an odd question..
He may get in some trouble, good thing is viagra and not a narcotic. Police may say he was buying them to resell them and fuck over the government which they most likely will do. It's sad really. He cannot play the "I was drunk and didn't know what I was doing card" because they don't know, they don't have cameras in his house. Hopefully they just keep the package and nothing more. If it does goto trial please get a good lawyer hopefully he can just get a slap on the wrist or community service. Also have your friend change his credit card number, no offense to indians here but I really wouldn't trust a offshore pharmacy what so ever. What he did was quite illegal, and importing it into Canada may get him into alot of trouble. Best of luck to him.
Don'Tsign anything.. It wont be problem.. I had same things a lot of times.. Tell them it must be joke
Well, I dont think he'd be able to sign for the package anyway as its held at Customs according to him. Thats a bit of a shame though, I will inform him of that later on today. Does this mean that the customs to canada are harsher than anywhere else? or is that just rule of thumb. Whats the worst case Scenario for him? Edit: I just called him. It was for 10-20 pills. I am not sure if that makes a difference.
I really doubt he has anything to worry about. He might see a fine, but really nothing more. Unless they can prove that he had ordered the viagra anyways, they wont bother...
How does he know it's held up at Canada Customs? Has Canada Customs contacted him? What did they say? Typically stuff is just held until the proper import duty is paid.
He had a tracking number and when he checked it said something about being held and he started freaking out (when he called me). He hasn't received a letter, but I figured I'd ask regardless as I'd hate to see him worrying so much.
"Unlike prohibited items, controlled products may enter Canada but are subject to special requirements which often include the requirement for an import permit. If these requirements are not met, the product may not be allowed to enter Canada. Controlled products include tobacco, prescription drugs, certain foods, plants, seeds, animal parts, currency and goods listed in the Import Control List."-http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/pgcustoms-e.asp What he purchased was a controlled product. Its not going to cause much trouble for him. However, he wont be able to pick it up without the proper documents. ie. import permit/prescription containing the product in question. This isn't a serious offense. Its a matter of misunderstanding. He purchased it from what he thought to be a legitimate site that had authority to ship him the product. However, as per Canadian customs regulations, this hadn't been the case. Therefore, Canadian authorities confiscated the item in question until the receiver can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the product is permitted to enter the country. However, since he doesn't have the permit or a prescription for the product which requires some documentation, the product MAY NOT enter the country. He isn't bound to go to customs to pick up the product in question at this point. If he doesn't show up to claim the product nothing further should result. However, if he does show up and try to retrieve his product, he wont be able to acquire it because he doesn't have the documentation. Therefore, leaving the product at customs and forgetting the matter will relieve him of his obligations to pursue the matter any further. The product will now stay in customs as an unclaimed item and will circulate there until the time when its stay expires. 0_o
Canadian customs is a joke. don't worry about it . i send stuff there every day and things sit in their toronto location about a week with no movement. , it always gets out after that.
Or until the postal workers find out what it is And no Canadas import laws aren't the harshest but it's a package coming from a 2nd world country into a first and alot of things going on now "swine flu" and other diseases there is alot to be worried about. But as others said since it's a small amount he might just get a small fine (hopefully) or nothing will happen.
Canada's import process is not the harshest that there is, when you think about Bangkok and places like that!