Now that all of the illegal drug traffic and the flow of illegal alien invaders into the US has been stopped- the wizards at ICE/Customs have turned to a more serious national security issue. The flow of Cuban cigars by boat and internet sales into the US has become a high priority. Key the name of Doug Hiner into Google and read the stories. This rocket scientist was caught ih his 53 ft sailboat with 350 Cuban cigars, Rum and COFFEE( WT#??). A further invsetigation yielded a storage locker in Ft Myers, Fla full of 28.000 more cigars and a stash of cuban rum and- (drumroll along with the theme from dragnet) COFFEE!!!. There was a second such bust of another Jimmy Buffett wanabee Bozo 2 months earlier. These were the result of an ongoing undercover investigation resulting from a tip from a scorned ex girlfriend who was dumped for a 20 year old hottie as rumor has it. I dont know Doug personally but we have mutual friends.Doug has no prior criminal record- just a dumb@ss who watched too many Miami vice reruns. He is ruined for life. I agree that he should receive some sort of fine but the guy is 68 years old and facing 7 felonies and multiple years in prison This makes me feel so much safer.

ICE has obtained credit card transaction records from 2 internet cigar shops located in Honk kong. This information was provided to customs by an anti- tobacco Credit card processor who I think is called Worldpay. Customers are receiving warning letters and in some cases fines from transactions between 2004 and 2005. There is a detailed account of this issue on cigarpass.com. This is old news but the campaign has been stepped up recently. A lot of letters have gone out. I would not reccomend buying Cuban products over the internet- but if you do- avoid the Honk kong area- which seems to be the focus of this bust- and do not pay with a credit card under any circumstances.

Personally I only smoke Cubans while traveling to countries where they are legal

It's so refreshing to see that our government is focusing on things that are really important to our society. With Doug Hiner safely behind bars, we can all walk the streets at night without fear of harm.

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Dan

If you live in San Francisco, failing to properly separate trash and recyclables could land you in jail. Styrofoam blocks in the recycling bin? $1000 fine.

Yes. There will be city paid garbage inspectors looking through your trash cans.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10066339

Don't throw away any Cuban butts. Cuban butts not safe.

El Salvadoran butts are safe, though.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25827381/

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2007 Speed Yellow Cayman GT 2.7 (retired)
2008 Guards Red Cayman GT 3.4
"Carpe Cayman"

Sad thing is that many of the Habaneros are not apparently what they used to be despite the magazine ratings. Cousin who lives overseas brought me Montecristos and Cohibas he bought in London on more than one occasion, and the quality was surprisingly poor given the exorbitant cost. Tight draw on most of the Cohibas and very coarse workmanship on the majority of Montecristos. I would hope my experience isn't typical, but I wouldn't risk my freedom for a puff of Fidel and Raul's finest.

1000.00 fine for throwing my styro packing material from my detail supplies in the trash????? Ok -I quit- You win
That IS the most stupid waste of law enforcement resources that I have ever heard of.

[quote=DaveC;285685]Sad thing is that many of the Habaneros are not apparently what they used to be despite the magazine ratings...QUOTE]
It's true - at least one cigar per box seems to be a dud.

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The Croc's Nest:
2008 Targa 4S
2006 Cayman S
2006 Cayenne S

Unfortunately, brand name and source is no indication of quality. The worst cuban that I ever smoked was an H Uppman from Harrod's in London which set me back about 35 bucks. Cohiba nad Montecristo use multiple factories in Cuba - some much better than others. The trick is to establish a rapport with a competent source and buy according to their reccomendation rather than a specific brand. When habanos are good there is nothing better. Sorry for your bad expierence. Nothing worse than to discover that you have a bad batch of expensive cigars. Your expierence would be typical for a tourist or causal one time buyer from an unknown source. Typically the "good stuff" is not out on the shelf.

Ask Bill Clinton about Cuban cigars.

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I’ll do anything for money except work. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Or Monica.

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My Blogs
2006 CS Tip (Daily Driver & Part-time Track Toy)
2005 Ford Expedition (to haul the CS)
2006 Lexus RX400h (wifey's)
Gone, but not forgotten: 2002 WRX, 2004 MINI

That's really funny Rumor has it that he presented it to Yassar to smoke afterwards

When the question came up whether or not to send Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba, Bill Clinton said "I'm going to let Janet Reno make that decision. Last time I told someone what to do with a Cuban I got into a lot of trouble!"

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I’ll do anything for money except work. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Winchester21 sorry I hijacked your thread.
On a more serious note the Helms-Burton Act is the law that bans the purchase and importation of commodities from Cuba. The law was passed on March 12, 1996 by the 104th United States Congress. It got its name from the two sponsors, Senator Jesse Helms Republican