Reply #9: Actually, cargo is screened better than...

[TreasonousBastard]

luggage in most places.

I haven't been dealing with cargo terminals since last year, but as of then every package sent as cargo is opened and checked by cargo personnel in the cargo terminal. This also goes for those express packages.

There are always exceptions, such as poisonous snakes in secured crates, hearts for transplant, human remains in coffins, and some "known shippers" who are on an approved list after being checked out pretty carefully.

But, yeah, I've waited around for ridiculously long times when short-staffed cargo crews checked that it was really shoes, motherboards, tomatoes, or whatever else was claimed to be in the box.

(Really-- poisonous snakes. I was in a terminal once when a reptile dealer came in with a large, and very sturdy, crate labelled "Poisonous Reptiles" with lots of big bolts and locks on it. For some curious reason, no one asked him to open it. They knew him, of course, and he ships several times a week, they said, so they didn't worry about it.)