By Timothy Schafer, Trail Daily Times
Taxes and duties turned into fines and penalties recently on goods for two Canadians who refused to declare purchases made in the U.S. at the Nelway border crossing.
According to a report from Canadian Border Services Agency, although the two Nexus members and residents of Canada declared $1,100 in purchases after a three-week absence, an exam conducted to establish origin of the goods found a total of $2,900 in undeclared goods, including an iPad, an iPod, a computer program as well as clothing.
When asked by officers why they did not declare the goods, the travelers said they forgot. Officers seized all the undeclared goods and the travelers paid a penalty of $734 to have them returned. Their Nexus memberships were cancelled as a result of the enforcement action.
Had the items been properly declared, the travelers would have paid $348 in duties and taxes.
Over 450 people were denied entry into Canada from the U.S. through BC ports in December and January, while over 1,000 Customs Act and Criminal Code violations occurred.
Officers in the Okanagan Kootenay district, one of five districts in the BC-Yukon region, made 424 narcotics seizures, 167 currency seizures, six firearms seizures and 93 prohibited weapons seizures. The district includes ports at Waneta, Paterson, Nelway, Carson, and Kingsgate.
With more than 90 separate acts and regulations being administered by Canadian Border Services Agency, they strained more than 1.5 million people through the Canada-U.S. border in the Pacific Region.