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I'm flying abroad (Western Europe and the Caribbean) in a couple of months and will probably be purchasing anywhere between 10 and 20 boxes of relatively high end sticks. I was thinking of just putting them in my checked bag and not declaring anything but I got to thinking about it how bad it would suck to have all that seized. Do you think it would be a better idea to maybe package them in plain boxes with the bands off and just ship the bands and boxes separately. Maybe I should just mail the whole lot in smaller packages addressed to different friends I have around my town?

Does anybody have any good ideas on this? I have two different ports of entry on this multi-leg trip. One being JFK and one being San Juan PR if that makes any difference.

And don't worry, when I'm in the Caribbean I will only buy from non LCDH stores and guys on the beach who's cousin gets a good deal on factory overrun BHK's

Thanks and thanks for the space, Wade.

Back in the Day (i.e. pre-2000) a few overseas vendors would do what you mentioned:

remove bands and place the sticks into neutral boxes so if customs opened them they did not appear to be cuban sourced.

The practice seemed to work pretty well and if you wanted the box and bands, some would send them to you for an additional cost.

I only got the box and bands once...after I received them I asked myself "What the heck to I need these for?!"

In a similar boat but given prices, unless I walk in a store and find a unicorn, I’ll likely be coming home without any sticks.  Seems easier to have them shipped, particularly w the new world pricing. The bandless route would seem the best, although there are limits to quantity before you have to pay duties based on sale price. Same is true for booze - which has a quick form and relatively low duties per bottle over the limit.

W regard to bands, some folks need them for the experience. If you are going to swap or sell a few sticks, then clearly bands are a must.