r/mildlyinfuriating • u/thetoastmonster • 2d ago

Customs cut the head off this expensive hand-carved elephant artwork shipped from Africa, and did a terrible job gluing it back on.

Gallery image

Gallery image

1.9k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

View all comments

265

u/[deleted] 2d ago

How did you learn that customs cut the head? I have worked in customs compliance for almost 20 Years now and this makes no sense to me. 

54

u/DavePeesThePool 2d ago

I would suggest that it was broken in transit (the shape would be very vulnerable to getting broken off after all). But were that the case, they would have found the carving in 2 pieces.

It was either broken and poorly repaired before it shipped, or someone opened the packaging during the shipping process and broke or cut it and glued it back together. I'm not sure who else would do such a thing other than customs looking for smuggled paraphernalia.

18

u/Own_Round_7600 2d ago

Customs may open items if they have a reasonable suspicion from x-rays or swipe tests, but they're certainly not paid or equipped to glue it back together. They only tape the shipping packaging back up.

An apologetic customs officer inexpertly attempting to restore the item itself with glue from his drawer is cute to imagine, but they're not allowed to tamper with it any more than strictly necessary to do their job. This absolutely wasnt customs, it was the seller.