Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: Formal name for smuggling charge...

Okay... Question.

What would it be called if a person was charged with smuggling stolen goods into the country? I mean, conspiring to murder someone is called 'conspiracy to committ murder', isn't it? So what is the formal name for the charge of smuggling stolen goods? Can anyone help me out here? Please?

Thank you!

~Anna.

Well, we called smuggling a 'trafficking offence' in college...and there were different ways to apply it, of course, i.e. drugs, humans... Hopefully I'll find out that we used the right term LOL.

JD

So 'trafficking in stolen goods' would probably be the correct term...right?

Thanks, JD!

~Anna.

It depends on the state. Every state has its own penal law and beyond that, there is the federal law. Smuggling is almost always a federal crime (because it is illegal international or interstate commerce - something the federal government is empowered to control), but you can be charged with state violations as well, so long as those state violations don't interfere with the enforcement of federal law.

The mythical state of New Troy, where Metropolis is located, is often based on New York (so much so that the city of Metropolis is topographically indistinguishable from New York City when you look at a city map). Under both New York and Federal law, the movement of controlled substances across borders would be the crime of importation of controlled substances (importation is also the language used to describe moving guns across state lines). The movement of stolen goods would be the trafficking of stolen goods.

Smuggling would be a federal offense, and would usually be charged in Federal court as "Smuggling goods into the United States," also known as 18 USC 545. If the crime involved filling out some type of form, it could also be charged under a more general law, 18 USC 1001, False Statements. Local police might begin the investigation but would normally bring in a Federal agency (such as Customs, now known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and they would take it to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution. If it involved drugs, there would be additional charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance with intent to distribute and the DEA (Scardino's agency) would normally be involved.

One thing I didn't mention previously--smuggling doesn't have to involve drugs, guns, or stolen goods. Until the Department of Homeland Security was created after 9/11, Customs was part of the Treasury Department, and smuggling is traditionally just importing goods without paying import duties (taxes). I think I was told that Customs is the oldest Federal law enforcement agency, because smuggling has been going on since before the U.S. became a country. If the smuggling involved illegal substances or items, then additional agencies such as the DEA (for drugs), ATF (for guns), and the FBI (stolen goods) would be involved and there would be additional charges. For the names of the specific charges, google "United States Code Annotated," go to the Government Printing Office page, and do a search on the terms you are asking about.

More than you wanted to know, I'm sure!

anything can be smuggled, so long as it is not declared

common items include rare and endangered species, non-native species (smuggling across quarantine boarders) etc.

of course now in this wonderful police state we live in that is post 9-11, even common garden fertilisers can be smuggled, because they contain nitrates etc. which are incorporated into explosives...


it would be considered smuggling so long as you do not declare the items through customs, and whether or not you are later charged (if of course you are caught beforehand) depends on the amounts and the nature of the undeclared items (now-days even aerosol deodorants need to be declared before boarding an air-plane... and no nuts or food-stuffs are allowed into Australia... but these would more commonly only be confiscated, rather than leading to an arrest)