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Legalities-Cigar Pass & Trades?

brainvictim

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I found this:

"As a general rule, no. The allowance for bringing in up to $100 worth of Cuban cigars if you were on authorized travel to Cuba is no longer in effect. In order to bring Cuban cigars into the U.S., you must have a specific license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. All other importations of Cuban cigars are illegal, including Cuban cigars that were acquired in other countries (such as Canada, England, or Mexico). It is also illegal for U.S. residents to buy, sell, trade, or otherwise engage in transactions involving illegally imported Cuban cigars. The penalties for doing so include confiscation of the cigars, civil fines of up to $55,000 per violation and in appropriate cases, criminal prosecution, which may result in higher fines and/or imprisonment. Foreign residents and visitors to the U.S.(i.e., French, Mexican etc) may not bring in goods of Cuban origin under any circumstances."

"It is illegal for U.S. persons to buy, sell, trade, give away, or otherwise engage in (or offer to engage in) transactions involving illegally-imported Cuban cigars. The penalties for doing so include, in addition to confiscation of the cigars, civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation and, in appropriate cases, criminal prosecution which may result in imprisonment."

"We recognise that the prohibitions that apply to Cuban cigars may deprive many consumers of a sought-after product. However, these prohibitions apply to all goods of Cuban origin and are an important element of the comprehensive program of economic sanctions against the Cuban government which have been in place since 1963.These sanctions have had the full support of the past seven Administrations and were further tightened by President Clinton in August 1994."

look up the Cigar Smokers FAQ, thats where i got the info
 

cvm4

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MichiganM said:
Does anyone know when this changed? Back when I was heavy into cigars that 100 dollar rule was gospel. Has it changed under Bush? I'm sorry for the threadjack.
I believe Bush or Congress changed them a couple years back (2001/2002 may'be?). But, a person on a licensed trip can no longer bring back cuban cigars. And to even be on a licensed trip you'd have to jump through a lot of red tape.
 
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They used to allow visits for educational or research purposes. One of my friends went before they changed that. They have made the rules stricter now, even for people with family there. Anyone who visits now that doesn't have family is usually doing it through grey market type means where they go and hit one place and then go to cuba from there on a trip where they dont stamp your passport.
 

caudio51

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In a nut shell: Cuban cigars are illegal.

In terms of NCs and their sale, trade, etc I would assume that it cannot be for profit.
 
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I am an attorney, but obviously I don't specialize in cigar laws. Without knowing more it is hard for me to understand what the exact issue, e.g. what was the charged offense? I would imagine that shipping NCs is legal as buying, possessing & smoking them is legal. As others have said, ISOMs is a different issue. So, the issue is not the shipping and I don't think there would be anything illegal about trading. Selling is the only area where I can see any complications. In that situation, you may have a few issues: selling to minors, charging state sales tax, claiming income, and needing a license to sell. Selling to minors would obviously be illegal but I can't imagine the sales were to a minor. I don't know enough about the tax issues but if you are making money on selling cigars, I would think you need to claim that as income (remember, this is how they got Capone). Also, you may need to charge sales tax. I don't know if any states require a special business license to sell cigars (Wasch 24 posted a site earlier). I'm in California and I see cigars being sold everywhere so I don't think you need one here.

The thing I am more curious about is how this would come to the attention of the authorities and why they would be motivated to prosecute (remember, you would have to be tried & convicted). If people are sending out boxes with a few cigars, I can't see how this would be a big deal. But as somebody earlier said, just because nobody protests, doesn't mean it isn't illegal.

These are my thoughts off the top of my head. I really don't want to be responsible for someone getting convicted of anything so if you are concerned, I would research your state's law more closely.
 
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Yeah, so looks like my father went off half cocked. He totally made it sound serious. Despite his denying it I know he said felony, loss of license, etc. No he's saying he said nothing like that. he was stoned or drunk (probably both knowing him) when he started talking out his ass. Thanks for all the input to this point. I am just going to wait till I hear back from Frank (the plantiff) to get the real deal.

Sorry, guys. I should have considered the source before I brought it here and got people worked up. I"ll keep you posted.

Right now the state of MN tells me I only need city licensing for what I am doing. More up dates to follow.
 

caudio51

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Certainly was worth the discussion. I've never even seen that brought up before. Keep us updated.
 
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MichiganM said:
Does anyone know when this changed? Back when I was heavy into cigars that 100 dollar rule was gospel. Has it changed under Bush? I'm sorry for the threadjack.
You can no longer do it. Here's a public-friendly faq of sorts put out by the OFAC:
 

Fox

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Wasch_24 said:
I would reccomend no one click that link...the webmaster can link the click back to here if he wants to.
As we say on another board I frequent, this is not something you want to hot link.
 
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I wouldn't worry about it. Just don't post that your sending or received ISOM's. Keep your lips shut and nobody will ever know.:thumbsup:
 

Wasch_24

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The board is already full of that stuff...too late now. It would be easier to just remove it then clean up the entire board. :thumbsup:
 

Jwrussell

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I hate to ask this, but can a Mod or Admin remove that Hot link please? People can cut and paste if they want to.
 
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