Trouble

Hubby and I crossed the Canadian border yesterday to gamble a bit at the casino. Going in, we stopped by the US duty free shop and bought 2 cartons of cigarettes for my mom. We stayed a couple of hours in the casino, then ate dim sum at a local Chinese restaurant. We didn't anticipate any problems going back into the United States.

I knew the customs official wasn't in a chipper mood when I pulled up by him. We handed our blue passport, and he asked what our citizenship was. I was thinking, "duh! did you have to ask?". He asked if we had bought anything and I volunteered the information that we bought 2 cartons of cigarettes from the US duty free. He about freaked out! He said it is illegal to bring it back in the US because it's for "outside" US consumption only and that we could face up to $5000 in fine. We told him we didn't know but he didn't seem to care. He asked us how much money we have in our wallet, (not much I tell you, after losing in the casino). Then he asked what we did for a living, and oh boy did we get a break when hubby told him what he does! He let us go with just a subtle warning, thank God!

Lesson learned. No more cigarettes from the Duty Free. Mom should convert to e-cig, imo.