Checking for Drugs

[gonesail]

maybe he just rolled his own tobacco ?? many do this to save money.

[ConradG]

Alright, so you if you don't know an official with a k-9 friend and you are worried about the mentality and reprocussions of those in that possition (and rightly so imho, even if they believe it wasn't you they might want to impound it for following up on who it was) it leaves you with one choice-look yourself. Spring cleaning. You could also train a dog. I hear it is pretty easy. I used to know a cop in Texas with one.... he said he started with a puppy and just gave him a wiff before playing with him, he gets excited every time he smells it because it means he gets to play...rather simple. Then you'll have a service you can provide for the rest of us and be able to raise some extra cash for the cruising kitty.
But seriously, if something was stashed it would be recoverable and you should be able to find it. If it was built in because it was being smuggled it would probably have been worth enough for the stasher to have removed it and unless he was really stupid, there wouldn't be any papers or other links hanging around. Give the teen on the block a screwdriver, twenty bucks and tell him he can keep what he finds. Would be pretty nice to know all those voids anyway. You never know what you might want to stash....

[gettinthere]

I've covered a LOT of this boat in 2 years of ownership. Replaced almost all the hoses, did lots of rewiring, etc. But I just found the papers last week.
I'm reasonably confident there are no large caches of drugs, that I would have found. But a small bag of weed could be hard to find.

[Reckless]

Briton jailed for four years in Dubai after customs find cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar under his shoe

Briton jailed for four years in Dubai after customs find cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar under his shoe | Mail Online

When it comes to potential for drugs on board,, I think the better safe then sorry approach is needed.
We are in Canada, but a local woman had work done on a house she had just purchased and the contractor found large amounts of pot and some cash between the floors. The police were called, collected everything and left. No charges, she had bought the place 6 months prior. The stash was worth $250k on the street so that would be a good amount.

I guess it comes down to where you would be traveling and your own personal comfort level. There are places out there with very strict drug laws. There have been people sentenced to death for having drugs they claim weren't theirs.

Better to find it now then have some official find it and have to try to explain "not mine officer"
Call your local PD, I am sure they have a drug dog on the force, send them down if it is there the dog will be able to find it in minutes.

[idpnd]

Canada is not Dubai you'll be pleased to hear..

BBC News - Jailed Dubai kissing pair lose appeal over conviction

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by idpnd

Canada is not Dubai you'll be pleased to hear..

Yes, but cruisers get themselves into countries that look so enticing on the CF photos page that are really quite draconian when it comes to some crimes like drugs and things we don't think are crimes at all like in Thailand criticizing the king, in Turkey its an offence to criticize their first president, and in most countries in Asia its quite punishable to criticize their religion.

Cruisers need to be most careful outside their own country. A seed of dope at home may be waivable, but when accidently transported to Singapore, Thailand, Oman, Indonesia or many other countries could see you in the clink for quite a while eating delicious cockroaches.


As for Dubai, theres some big sailing regattas going on there nowadays so it can happen to the likes of us.

Mark

[idpnd]

that are really quite draconian when it comes to some crimes like drugs and things

...such as kissing when on a honeymoon! Some countries may be unsuitable for tourism, for me, this is one of them. Plenty of regattas all over..

[MarkJ]

Its gets worse!!

One man has even been jailed for possession of three poppy seeds left over from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow Airport.

We were roundly criticized by some cruisers whilst in Oman because we didn't want to stop in certain middle eastern countries. Its these sort of stupid rules that make tourism there, as far as I am concerned, a no go area.

I don't want to end up in jail for giving some chic I hang out with a pash, a squeeze and a definite hand holding!

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

I've covered a LOT of this boat in 2 years of ownership. Replaced almost all the hoses, did lots of rewiring, etc. But I just found the papers last week.
I'm reasonably confident there are no large caches of drugs, that I would have found. But a small bag of weed could be hard to find.

We had owned our boat (3rd owner) for about 7 months and had been full time cruising for about 3 months when I found the first loaded .38 cal revolver in a compartment behind the nav station drawer. The second one was found some months later in the V-berth pad.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by slomotion

We had owned our boat (3rd owner) for about 7 months and had been full time cruising for about 3 months when I found the first loaded .38 cal revolver in a compartment behind the nav station drawer. The second one was found some months later in the V-berth pad.

Loaded? Now that's scary. Check into the wrong country with that on board and you could spend some serious time in a nasty, third world, jail. Do you think anyone would ever believe you when you said you didn't know it was there?

That seals it for me. I'm going to take my boat apart. Maybe I'll find money instead of guns and drugs.

[RunningFish]

I'm with Mark - after reading these stories I'll just avoid those places. Any legal system that considers a grain of pot on the bottom of your shoe in a public airport to be possession is not a place I trust.

[gettinthere]

Originally Posted by slomotion

We had owned our boat (3rd owner) for about 7 months and had been full time cruising for about 3 months when I found the first loaded .38 cal revolver in a compartment behind the nav station drawer. The second one was found some months later in the V-berth pad.

YIKES!

Now I need ATF as well as DEA to inspect my boat!

Actually, I hope that anything as big as a gun I would have found by now. I have been all over the boat. It's something small like a nickle bag that concerns me.

[Mariness]

This thread is making me paranoid! Feeling more and more like we should just build our own!
Good thing our little (currently unsailable, anyway) boat was previously owned by the Boy Scouts - that should be safe, I guess.

[denverd0n]

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how someone managed to forget about and leave behind two--not one, but TWO--loaded guns on a boat!

I mean, a bag of pot I can see. You get stoned and the next morning forget where it is, or maybe don't even remember that you brought it on-board. But a loaded gun! I own guns myself. I even keep a loaded one handy sometimes, so this is not coming from someone with some sort of irrational anti-gun phobia, but... Don't you have to be an incredible, brain-dead IDIOT not to keep constantly aware of where your loaded gun is!?!

(Oh, sorry, I forgot, that should be "where your loaded guns are".)

[amytom]

I'm an engineer on the "sniffer" machines the USCG, DEA, TSA, DOD... all use.

Getting a hit on the machine does not warrant an arrest but it is probable cause for a further search including opening all voids by "any means".

Where are you located? Maybe I can stop by and take some samples for good measure. I did my boat when I first bought it. I also sample my kids bedrooms occasionally

BTW- Brevard County is where I mostly grew up and yes the good-ole-boy network is very strong there. My father knew the sherriff so it was okay that I road a motorcycle to school at 12.