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FROM
CUBA
Customs inspectors shake down Cuban visitors
LA HABANA, Cuba - April 24 (Hugo Araña
/ www.cubanet.org) - Cubans who live abroad
arriving at Havana's international airport
are the preferred target of customs inspectors
who solicit bribes to smooth their way.
The scam usually takes one of two forms.
In the first, the inspector will search
the visitor's luggage until he or she finds
some item whose legality is doubtful, and
then in a melodious voice will ask: You
wouldn't have a present for us, would you?
The going rate is said to be no less than
40 dollars.
The second is more subtle; the inspector
winks at an unsuspecting visitor who's getting
ready to leave the terminal, approaches
him or her and asks for a payment of 200
dollars to overlook certain irregularities
in, say, the excess weight of the passenger's
belongings.
Should the visitor not prove cooperative,
the inspector may call in a policeman to
search again for suspected illegal articles
being brought into the country.
In spite of continuing campaigns by the
government to erradicate corruption and
the number of inspectors fired, extortion
of visiting Cubans goes on over their frequent
complaints.
Versión
original en español
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