If you have a friend in the USA who owns a lot of land that is suitable for landing a plane, and you own a private jet with 2 pilots in Norway, can you take off in private property without notifying anybody on what you have on the plane and where you are going or anything like that and fly to the USA and land on the property of your friend? Is that legal to do?
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8$\begingroup$ Does this answer your question? What stops an international private airplane from landing outside of airports with a customs zone? $\endgroup$– PondlifeFeb 22, 2020 at 0:54
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36$\begingroup$ oddly specific... $\endgroup$– IronEagleFeb 22, 2020 at 5:42
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38$\begingroup$ Is your "friend" in the CIA (a service of the USA government), and is "Norway" an alternative word for "Nicaragua"? $\endgroup$– Andrew MortonFeb 22, 2020 at 15:13
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9$\begingroup$ "But would anybody notice that im transfering gold if the gold is hidden and i put the gold there long before the acctualy travel. And would i need to arrange customs to come to me? And how would i do that. This is just me wondering if this is acctualy possible-" - Transferring gold from Norway to the US without speaking to Customs seems ill advised $\endgroup$– RichardFeb 23, 2020 at 14:40
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7$\begingroup$ You really should change the title to match the question. In the US, it's perfectly possible to take off and land without notifying anyone, it's crossing borders without going through customs & immigration that's the problem. Doesn't really matter if you're flying a private jet, or climbing over Trump's wall. $\endgroup$– jamesqfFeb 24, 2020 at 4:07
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6 Answers
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No, you would need to arrange for customs as you are crossing an international border.
answered Feb 21, 2020 at 14:46
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2$\begingroup$ But would anybody notice that im transfering gold if the gold is hidden and i put the gold there long before the acctualy travel. And would i need to arrange customs to come to me? And how would i do that. This is just me wondering if this is acctualy possible $\endgroup$ Feb 21, 2020 at 14:51
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55$\begingroup$ @LineGolem This is a really bad place to ask how to commit a crime. Smuggling is a felony in almost every country -- will result in confiscation of the jet and everything aboard, even if it never goes to trial. It's a very, very bad idea. $\endgroup$ Feb 21, 2020 at 14:56
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6$\begingroup$ Hey! I was thinking that, im just verry curious of this because of everything i see on TV and in the News i understand smuggling is a felony and doing it is really a bad thing, im just wondering on about how these kind of things work! And i really dont know where i should or who i should ask if im wondering about things like this. I try to see things that would be hard to do and for sure probably almost stupid to try, and see if i would be able to find an solution, im sorry if this is the wrong place to ask around i will take it down right away if thats better, anyways thank you for respoindin $\endgroup$ Feb 21, 2020 at 15:06
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3$\begingroup$ @LineGolem That won't work at all. You'll have to declare all the gold to Customs when you land. You can also expect a swift rap on the knuckles for not landing at an international airport to clear Customs then going on to your destination. $\endgroup$ Feb 21, 2020 at 23:21
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3$\begingroup$ @Zeiss Ikon: AFAIK (and per Google, but I am not a lawyer), there's no legal problem with bringing in as much gold as you want, as long as you declare it: google.com/… If it's an unreasonably large amount, you might have various law enforcement agencies snooping around to find out whether you acquired it legally, though. $\endgroup$– jamesqfFeb 22, 2020 at 4:02
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Yes, it is possible to land an airplane in the US at a private airport when you have taken off from a foreign airport.
No, you may not do it legally.
Doing this is a federal crime. Since you are smuggling something, you may not care about the legality. When you are eventually caught, you will go to prison. Your assets will be confiscated by and forfeited to the government. And once you are released from prison, you will be deported and blacklisted from entering the US ever again. Your gold will not be returned to you.
It is not worth the risk. Especially when the gold is worthless unless you can convert it to money. You can’t do that legally either (more prison time). Even money gotten through illegal means is forfeited to the government.
No matter from where you takeoff, nor in what country your aircraft is registered, if you cross the US Air Defense Identification Zone, you have to land at an Airport of Entry before proceeding elsewhere. You have to declare any goods or monetary instruments (even gold) you are transporting to Customs and Border Protection located at the AOE. There are trade laws, aviation laws, customs laws, banking laws, tax laws, Anti-terrorist laws, etc. that you will be violating if you do not.
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2$\begingroup$ +1 for the phrase "the gold is worthless" alone. $\endgroup$ Feb 21, 2020 at 18:38
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2$\begingroup$ I don't see anything about gold in the question? $\endgroup$– StephenSFeb 22, 2020 at 0:22
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9$\begingroup$ Ctrl+F "gold" Enter... oh look, comments by the OP! $\endgroup$– NijFeb 22, 2020 at 2:42
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9$\begingroup$ Re "Since you are smuggling something..." the irony is that you can bring in as much gold as you want, perfectly legally, without paying taxes or customs duties. The illegality is not going through customs. $\endgroup$– jamesqfFeb 22, 2020 at 4:09
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9$\begingroup$ Lol. Well, many fools have proven the system works. Our prisons are full of them. Maybe StackExchange can start a criminal endeavors site. All the usual suspects in one place. $\endgroup$– Dean F.Feb 22, 2020 at 13:46
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In general*, any time people or cargo enter another country, they must do so at a designated Port of Entry, i.e. where customs and immigration officers are stationed. This is true regardless of whether traveling by land, sea or air. Trying to enter other than at a PoE is usually a serious crime, and in the case of flying without a proper flight plan, may even get you shot down.
In the US specifically, you can request (for a fee) that these officers meet your flight at an airport other than a designated PoE, which is a really convenient perk for GA pilots. As far as I know, they will only agree to do this at public airports, and if you ask about a private airport such as your friend's farm, they'll tell you to land at a public airport first to legally enter the country and then continue to the private one as a domestic flight.
(* Open border agreements like Schengen are an obvious exception.)
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Think about how your question is fundamentally different from this one:
If you have friend in the USA that owns a lot of land that is suitable for landing a plane, and you own a private jet with 2 pilots in Colombia, can you takeoff in private property without notifying anybody on what you have on the plane and where you are going or anything like that and fly to USA and land on the property of your friend? Is that legal to do?
But would anybody notice that I'm transferring cocaine if the cocaine is hidden and I put the cocaine there long before the actual travel. And would I need to arrange customs to come to me? And how would I do that. This is just me wondering if this is actually possible.
I'll bet you can answer this question all by yourself without even consulting additional sources. If not, you can probably put on your Customs and Border Patrol hat and ask yourself: "What would I think of a covert flight of this nature crossing into my airspace? It's probably a totally cool, totally legal flight with no contraband on board. I'm gonna go ahead and do nothing."
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3$\begingroup$ You forgot the part about filing an international flight plan not terminating at a port of entry. $\endgroup$ Feb 22, 2020 at 3:53
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3$\begingroup$ There's a large number of problems with this plan that are well-covered by the other answers. I was just trying to illustrate that the OP probably didn't need any expert advice at all to answer this question. $\endgroup$ Feb 22, 2020 at 3:56
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1$\begingroup$ I totally agree with you. My comment was in jest because the OP actually asked whether filing a flight plan might alleviate any problems! $\endgroup$ Feb 22, 2020 at 4:56
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7$\begingroup$ you've hit upon the solution! if OP wears their CBP hat, then the people at customs will think he works there, and then they won't even look for the gold! (this is the best question of any SE site of the decade so far!) $\endgroup$– Aaron FFeb 22, 2020 at 13:31
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$\begingroup$ @MichaelHall: Why do you need to file a flight plan at all if you're VFR the whole way? $\endgroup$– JoshuaFeb 24, 2020 at 20:50
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No, your plan could never succeed. You could not file a legal flight plan since your plan has no provision for landing at an appropriate port of entry for customs and immigration clearance. If you attempt to make the flight without filing a flight plan, you would necessarily need to transit the North American ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone).
The map below does not show the Alaska zone, but rest assured it also exists - there is no way to cross into the north american land mass without being detected.
Any aircraft flying in these zones without authorization may be identified as a threat and treated as an enemy aircraft, potentially leading to interception by fighter aircraft.
With no defensible justification for your presence in that airspace you would be treated as a hostile aircraft and dealt with as such.
#/media/File:Map_of_the_boundaries_of_the_ADIZ.jpg){kind=link}
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I'm certain there will be problems with this, because this is very much the way smugglers move goods across a border without letting customs authorities inspect it.
If you cross from international airspace to American, without a flight plan, at the very least you'll be directed to land at a recognized airport for customs, and if you don't respond to attempts at contact, it's possible warplanes might be dispatched to intercept you -- this could even go as far as a shoot-down, in the worst case.
Even if you "aren't smuggling," if you have anything of value on board, this kind of flight is smuggling. It will also run afoul of immigration laws, if anyone on board isn't an American citizen (and will be seen as suspicious in that regard even they are).
answered Feb 21, 2020 at 14:56
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$\begingroup$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. $\endgroup$– FedericoFeb 25, 2020 at 12:01