Reply #: Tell ya what I think...

[TreasonousBastard]

back when I spent my days insuring ships, cargos, and terminal operators and had some salty retired sea captains working for me checking things out...

Customs inspected the ships for contraband and documentation.

INS was there in case there were illegals trying to get in.

FDA and Agriculture were there to check on safety, suitability, and standards of everything from canned shrimp to rubbers to the radiation let out by TVs and microwaves.

Port captains, port police, pilots, the Coast Guard, stevedores, and godknowshowmanyothers were there doing their things with regulations, standards, and general operations.

And they only managed to get a small percentage of the illegals, contraband, bad food, unmarked rubbers, bilge dumping, Ginseng and all the other crap they were looking for. The ports are just too damn big with too many ships from too many places with too much cargo to look at every box that comes through. And the terminal operator is often the one link in the chain with the least control over anything. The trouble we had with terminal operators was usually when they were cheap bastards and let things fall apart. Everyone else in the port was either a thief or chasing one.

So, what's changed to cause this hysteria?