Smuggling, deception, fraud, oh my god!

Deception is the favorite game of the bad guys. The lengths to which these individuals will go to break the law are incredible. Whether it be guns, drugs, or money, the skills they use to deceive U.S. Customs or the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security are astounding. During my time in this industry, primarily in the import business, I have witnessed some of their actions firsthand. The bad guys are constantly looking for ways to achieve their goals or conduct illegal operations. Their ingenuity in trying to smuggle illegal goods through import and export channels is extraordinary.

Recently, BIS released another Don’t Let This Happen to You report. It’s a very interesting article about individuals and companies that have violated U.S. export laws. Let’s take a look at some of these cases.

Case 1: Eric Baird/Access USA Shipping LLC

From August 1, 2011 to January 7, 2013, Baird served as CEO of Access USA Shipping LLC dba MyUS.com, and he directed Access USA to develop practices and policies that helped conceal information from U.S. merchants. They would regularly change values ​​and descriptions on export documents, even when they knew the accurate information. Some of these changes were to controlled items on the Commerce Control List. For example, laser sights on firearms would be changed to “Tools and Hardware” and rifle scopes would be changed to “Sporting Goods” or “Tools, Hand Tools.” When these changes were made to export documents, AES declarations would be entered incorrectly and items that would have required a license to export would be exported without a license.

As early as September 2011, Baird received an email from the CTO that read, “I know we are deliberately and intentionally violating the law.” In the same email, Baird suggested that they could inflate the value of items in documents submitted to the US government by 25%, and if they were “warned by the (US) government,” then the company “could stop as soon as possible.”

In addition to falsifying documents, Baird conducted or authorized a “personal shopper” program as part of which Access USA employees would purchase items for foreign customers based on shopping lists and falsely represent to U.S. merchants that they were the domestic end-users of the items.

On December 12, 2018, the fun ended for Eric Baird. As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and BIS, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of smuggling and 166 administrative violations of U.S. export control laws. Baird was sentenced to 24 months probation and a $100 special assessment. He also agreed to a five-year revocation of export privileges and a $17 million fine, $7 million of which was suspended. Access USA didn’t get away with it. The company agreed to a $27 million fine, $17 million of which was suspended.

Case 2: Raphael Richiz

Rafael Richiez purchased three firearms with ECCN number 0A501. The package was addressed and sent to Richiez’s mother in the Dominican Republic. However, the cargo description on the document stated “household items.” Upon arrival in the Dominican Republic, the guns were seized at the Port of Haina. Dominican Republic law enforcement then decided to conduct a controlled delivery, and Richiez’s mother was arrested and held in custody for 35 days. Agents inspecting the shipment found the guns hidden in containers of iced tea powder. The guns were not declared and no export authorization was obtained. Since Rafael Richiez resides in the United States, OEE, HSI, and ATF agents obtained a search warrant for Richiez’s residence, where they found several other guns and seized them.

On December 14, 2023, Richetts was sentenced to 20 months in prison, two years of supervised release, 200 hours of community service, and a $100 special assessment.

Column 3: Jacques-Yves Durosseau

Jacques-Yves Durosseau is a former United States Marine. He decided to impersonate a high-ranking military officer and pretend to be on military orders to export eight firearms, ammunition, and body armor controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, as well as rifle scopes under ECCN 0A987, to Haiti via commercial aircraft. He packed the shipment and headed to the airport, properly declaring the firearms and ammunition to the airline. Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince and dealing with Haitian customs, Durosseau was detained by the Haitian National Police. He was detained for several weeks before being turned over to the NCIS for investigation. He was ultimately indicted and convicted of illegally exporting defense articles and firearms from the United States to Haiti without the necessary authorization.

Durosso appealed several times but was resentenced to 60 months in prison, 3 months probation, and a $400 special assessment on May 24, 2022. BIS also issued a 10-year post-conviction denial order.

More cases on imports

Criminals also try to import goods from US Customs. Most of the time, US Customs seizures are not always made public, except for large confiscators of shipments. When I first started in this industry, US Customs had not yet begun to x-ray packages. When the documents and items in the shipment were not right, they had to rely on their expertise to judge what to look for. When it comes to drugs, they will rely heavily on drug dogs to sniff the packages to make sure their instincts are correct. Many times, their judgment is accurate. A few examples I witnessed were drugs hidden in a batch of Jesus statues. After the US Customs drug dog confirmed it, they began to conduct in-depth inspections of the statues and of course eventually found drugs in the statues. Another time, someone tried to hide drugs in the legs of wicker furniture and then smuggle the drugs into the United States. These furniture were intended to be sent to people in the United States.

The situation changed dramatically after U.S. Customs began using X-ray machines to check packages entering and leaving the United States, and they can now detect more smuggled items besides drugs.

CBP also inspects goods that are passing through the United States but not stopping there. One example I witnessed was in 2011. CBP officers decided to X-ray a tortilla-making machine that was being shipped from Mexico to Colombia. Inside the drum of the machine, they found over $600,000 in U.S. dollars in cash, which they subsequently seized. At the time, it was the largest bulk currency seizure ever made by the office.

As you can see from these examples, people eventually get caught one way or another. Depending on the violation, this can be devastating to an individual or company. It’s important to understand who your customers are, how they handle your shipments, and where your shipments are going. Don’t become another BIS or CBP headline.

Do you need more help determining whether you have the correct import and export procedures in place? Schedule a free consultation with a member of our team today.