Canada Customs Seized My Laser

Hi guys,
about two months ago, I saw that Tmack was selling a blord dominator host. I asked him if I bought it, could he put a 700mw 405nm diode in it. He did and a laser of pure awesomeness was born. This was made even before the Terminator 405s were available from Scifi lasers. Anyway, Canada customs seized the laser on the way to me and today I got this letter.





I got to tell you guys, never send the laser with the batteries and if it is high powered, you may think about sending the tail clicky or battery compartment in a separate package, at least in Canada. I learned a valuable and expensive lesson today for sure. This leaves a bitter taste in my mouth for sure.
The only good thing that did come out of this is that I gained a friend and mentor in Tmack. He has been a wealth of information and was truly bummed alongside me.
However, a ray of sunshine just appeared before me! Behold the mace of doom! OMG it is bigger and better than I could have imagined! A bolt of lightning just cracked across the sky and voila, DTR's modules have arrived. Mace of doom will now have a 405nm BDR-209 16X installed in a bit. F U customs Canada, you can keep my Blord 405nm and stick it where the sun don't shine! I will soon have my 405nm mace of glory, I will name thee Custom Agent Bane !

That's really crap.

Roll that letter up into a really tight tube and mail it back to them so they can stick it up their arse.

Ugh, h-a-t-e customs! I wish they never existed.. Why don't they worry about the more important stuff (weapons, chemicals, and all that 'nice' stuff)? "Violence Control" they could call it.. But then again lasers are dangerous? No! They aren't only the beholder is dangerous (like everyone says)

Anyways.. I think that all people should protest customs! But we most likely won't, why? Because weapons are what they need to worry about! NOT lasers!

Haha, I am mumbling gibberish now.

To get to the point.. Yes, they should not have confiscated it.. They have weapons and all that sweet stuff to worry about.

P.S. Customs take what they want to take. They sometimes will confiscate, sometimes not.. Example: You send TWO packages to me (United States).. They confiscate one and ONLY one, the other gets through. I get one laser delivered, later I get a letter (like you did). The other one gets sent to the "Dead Packages" post office.

In conclusion yeah customs are just.. Crazy!
Anyways, sorry to hear this.

The customs in Canada are probably more strict than the United States customs.

I don't see any basis for your anger at customs. If they've confiscated something based on valid authority to do so (which nobody has suggested they don't have), then they're just doing their job. If you don't like the underlying policy / law, then lobby for a change.

It's completely inappropriate to be discussing ways to circumvent customs inspection. To do so on this forum undermines the legitimacy of this hobby.

Sorry for your loss, ru124t. :cryyy:

There was a great discussion back when the new Canadian laws went into effect. The thread was started by member "Justin" (from LaserGlow). It is a great read for anyone in Canada trying to obtain a >5mW laser, or anyone trying to ship one to Canada.

LINK>> http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/canadian-restrictions-portable-lasers-official-info-release-laserglow-73129.html

Dammit, that sucks!

Any way to get them to send it back to the seller?


Was thinking about ordering something big from LaserBTB, but not now. No way I can risk getting something that expensive seized.


Time to practice my soldering skills, and get building!

RHD, I understand the laws. I am 45 years old and don't want the laser to shoot at airplanes. They seized my laser coming from customs BUT I could buy the same laser in Canada from laserglow or get the parts and build it myself. I apologize for thinking of ways to get around customs, I was still in shock from just getting this letter. The only thing is, I was hoping they would at least let me pay for return shipping to the sender. I know these people have a job to do. I live and learn, and whatever does not kill me truly makes me stronger. Let the home builds begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apart from the laser being seized and destroyed, is there the possibility of any further legal action against the importer?

Ahhh man, sorry. It's never fun to lose a laser. I almost had a similar experienced with a PLE-PRO 500mW 532nm laser. It was in customs for 3 months, it arrived on my door randomly and had a big US CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTIONS sticker all around it. I open the box expecting the worst and find the laser inside, nothing has been opened and was really amazed!!!

Anyway, it's good to hear you made a lifelong relationship with MR.T, he's a great guy and help me out many times

-Alex

Sad, they should let grown ups play with lasers how much they want and not act like someones mom that forbids you damit, what gives them the right to say what you can or cant do? idiots i hate customs.

ru124t said:

RHD, I understand the laws. I am 45 years old and don't want the laser to shoot at airplanes. They seized my laser coming from customs BUT I could buy the same laser in Canada from laserglow or get the parts and build it myself. I apologize for thinking of ways to get around customs, I was still in shock from just getting this letter. The only thing is, I was hoping they would at least let me pay for return shipping to the sender. I know these people have a job to do. I live and learn, and whatever does not kill me truly makes me stronger. Let the home builds begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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PS You couldn't get it from Laserglow either ---they have restricted any sale in Canada ----on their web site is
"In Canada: Consumers are not permitted to purchase portable lasers classified as Class 3B or higher, as per Health Canada regulations. You may only purchase a high-powered portable laser on behalf of an organization (company or educational institution) with a defined commercial or academic requirement for such a device, which has a qualified Laser Safety Officer. If you are purchasing a high-powered portable laser in Canada, we may ask you to provide proof that you satisfy the above requirements. Laserglow is legally obligated to ensure that the purchaser is not a "consumer" as defined by Health Canada."

Can you talk with Customs and get them to return to sender --- a least you could then get a refund, perhaps

I did put a letter in with the info the government required. I asked if it could be returned to the sender at my expense. I would not worry about a refund. I would get the diode taken out and sent to me so I could replace the burned out one in my projector. I would get him to separately send me the host. It would make a fine paperweight on top of all the useless papework the government just sent me. BTW it took them almost 2 months to get the paperwork to me! I am thinking Dominator by Blord is on the watchlist of customs as they clearly called it by name.

ru124t said:

I am thinking Dominator by Blord is on the watchlist of customs as they clearly called it by name.

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That was my thought as well when I read the letter. Is that what was on the customs declaration, or did they have to open the package to find that?

I'm wondering if the customs forms get scanned, OCR'd, and bumped against some database of laser company/model names.

was it sent with batteries? this is always a bad idea. this might be how they knew it was over 5mW for sure, though they might also have presumed that nothing that heavy and large would be 5mW, especially if it were the copper version. or maybe they searched it online and found this place, wouldnt be hard. anyone who imports a unit in a country with some customs restrictions risks this. that is why when you PMed me about some I had for sale I expressed concern about canadian customs and asked ARG about the wisdom of such an attempt. I think the only reason it does not happen in the U.S. more is that customs can't filter the volume of imports well enough to stop even a small percentage.

hopefully you can have it returned, though your customs may simple hand it over to our customs and put Tmack in the same spot, it's hard to say. just be thankful it was not a more expensive loss, I've had scares with around $1000 worth, though I'd have had no one to blame but myself. it still sucks, my condolences.

the Dominator can be taken apart and sent in components, might require some easy soldering

Remember to send them confirmation that you agree to have it destroyed, else they'll send you another letter with legal threats

ru124t said:

BUT I could buy the same laser in Canada from laserglow

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You can't. They don't sell lasers over 5mW to Canadians.

ru124t said:

I am thinking Dominator by Blord is on the watchlist of customs as they clearly called it by name.

Click to expand...

My guessing is that they called it by name because it says on it "DominatoR by Blord"

They wrote it in the exact case that it's printed so they most likely just copied it off the host. The bad news is this will be remembered as will the host shape. Unfortunately this can only be bad news for Blord and us as a community.