#15 - BROWN BOXING CRIMINALS

If you order arachnids (or other wildlife) from someone outside of the U.S. and have it shipped into the U.S. without an import/export license and clearance at a designated port of entry with proper wildlife and customs paperwork, inspections and fees you are a criminal.

Importing live animals - whether wild caught or captive bred - into the United States requires a license and following specific regulations and procedures. It is both expensive and somewhat complicated. Having live animals (or dead or animal parts) shipped illegally to your doorstep is called "Brown Boxing" and is a serious federal crime. Again, if you order arachnids (or other wildlife) from someone outside of the U.S. and have them shipped illegally into the U.S. you are a criminal. If you carry same from outside the U.S. into the U.S. you are a criminal. Plain and simple. Let me begin with the only proper way to obtain an order of livestock (we'll just use tarantulas as an example) and illustrate what legal importers like myself go through.

First you need a U.S. Fish and Wildlife import/export license. Mine is illustrated here with just my home address blocked out. I legally import captive bred tarantulas from Europe into America. The permit fee is $100 per year. You apply by completing the form and submitting to your appropriate regional office. There are eight Law Enforcement Regional Permit Offices. Only those in possession of a valid Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit - Import/Export License can have tarantulas shipped into the United States.

So, let's say you get a license. You are far from done. There are many costs of importing. First of all you must have animals shipped air freight (following airline regulations) into a USFW Port of Entry airport. There are 18 Designated Ports of Entry. International freight is expensive. As I wrote earlier, I plan to be brutally honest with these blogs. And, to that end, I am going to now disclose exactly what it cost for my last import from the UK into Chicago. You will discover that it will cost about $1000-1600 before you even buy a single spider (or whatever). I normally import from the UK and air freight is reasonable. To import from Germany can be twice as much as Lufthansa is the only airline and they are both expensive and require wooden crates.

My last import cost over $1100 in fees. That is without a single creature purchased. To offset this expense you best plan on spending a good deal of money on critters. This shipment my spider invoice was just under $8000. So my expenditure exceeded nine grand. $400 of the fees was air freight from Wales to England to Chicago. As I said, that is pretty good. The same shipment from Germany may have been $1000+ in freight. 48 hours prior to your shipment's arrival an invoice detailing everything and specifying species by scientific name must be sent to Fish and Wildlife. To facilitate the process of Fish and Wildlife forms and inspections and clearance by U.S. Customs an order like this is best served by using a private customs broker who will expedite and organize everything. My broker invoice was $727.61 and was broken down as follows.

• Outport Broker/SVC Fee - 150.00
• Fish & Wildlife Fee/Cert. - 291.00
• Fish & Wildlife Overtime - 100.00*
• Single Entry Bond - 120.00
• Import Service Charge - 40.00
• Duty - 26.61

*As you can see there was an extra $100 for overtime, but it can be difficult to get your shipment to arrive during the wildlife inspector's "banker's hours". Also, your wildlife isn't the only arriving that day so they may be busy and not get to your box until after quitting time. So an expensive shipment becomes more expensive and more time consuming.

So, this is an example of what an importing tarantula dealer faces. An honest, law-abiding importer.

The United States resident who places an order with someone overseas - for example, from this Vixvy character from Asia that advertises on Arachnoboards - and does not have a USFW import/license and has the shipment cleared by USFW and Customs at a designated port of entry is breaking the law and I wish legal charges on every single ignorant fool. They are breaking the law and subject to fines and imprisonment and I'd like to see each punished to the full extent of the law.

Before I proceed further and call out those who "brown box" and the foreign suppliers that ship to them I want to make a statement about Arachnoboards (AB). Scott and Debby Scher who own AB are close friends and it was them that I wanted to discuss this issue with further and why I delayed this blog a day or two. I wanted to make sure I understood their views and their site's policies before I wrote this lengthy blog, which I knew would turn into a sort of exposé. I spoke with both Scott and Debby and they made it clear that they are just as opposed to illegal trafficking - "brown boxing" - as I am and that they sincerely hope everyone who does so gets caught. And it is their site (aka "boards" or forum) that may aid in some of these people being punished.

Here is Scott Scher's post on "brown boxing" and official AB disclaimer on advertising.

Disclaimer: Arachnopets is NOT responsible for anything sold, purchased or traded in the classifieds... 

Regarding International Sales
As we are an international community here on Arachnoboards, we felt we should make this announcement. It is the responsibility of the buyer and seller to know the laws of their respective countries regarding the import/export of the goods they are dealing in. (In most cases on this site, arachnids or other "arachnopets".)
For those members residing in the United States, it is ILLEGAL to import or export without the appropriate permits. If the person you are dealing with has the appropriate permits for their country, that has NO bearing on the fact that YOU must ALSO have the appropriate permits in the U.S. "Brown Boxing"* is not only illegal, it's stupid. If you're caught, the least of your worries will be the impounding of the "Brown Box" and the worst could be some hefty fines as well as jail time.
It's just not worth it.
Scott
* The importing or exporting of goods without appropriate permits or declaration of contents.

AB obviously is just one of many places foreign sellers advertise and where American hobbyists may see adverts and arrange orders. But since AB is been my online home since 2003, and is the biggest and best of the arachnid-related online forums, I am just using this one marketplace as the example here. It must first be recognized that AB is an international forum. Sellers outside the U.S. have every right to advertise in AB's Classifieds Forums. There are plenty of international buyers that can legally receive their animals. But most U.S. residents cannot. If a seller states that they will ship to the United States AB will remove the advert ASAP. I am going to call out and use Vixvy to illustrate the problem, but he is just one of many foreigners who ship to the U.S. in a manner that is at least illegal for the recipient. He actually was banned from AB for a time, but now walks the line of what is acceptable to be able to post. But, my own opinion, is that he crosses that line and should be banished unless he clearly states in his ads that he will not ship to the United States. However, AB is not my site so my opinion is irrelevant. I want to stress that AB cannot be held responsible for the actions of its posters and has always maintained a great community by having strict rules and an effective moderation team. At the top of the "Arachnoboards Team" is the owners Scott and Debby and they will enforce their rules and maintain AB as the credit to the hobby that it has been for almost 15 years.

On June 14, 2015 Vixvy posted just one more of the many ads he has since joining AB back in 2005. Click here for the ad in this example. The title is "FREE shipping to all countries". Note the use of the word "all". The body of his ad quotes prices in U.S. dollars. If he was targeting international customers it would be better to use the Euro or post prices in a number of currencies. The use of "USD" is, in my opinion, evidence that he is targeting U.S. hobbyists. He knows his U.S. customers are breaking the law so if he wanted to run a moral business he would state in his ad they he does not ship to the U.S. and refuse orders from Americans. However, he doesn't and the disturbing thing is that his review thread posts not only prove that he ships to Americans, but the posters - his customers who have broken federal wildlife law - have publicly declared that they are criminals. I hope each one of them is contacted by USFW Law Enforcement. I should interject here that in all likelihood Vixvy himself is breaking no laws. In his country (he states his location as "southeast Asia" and doesn't specify which country) it may be perfectly lawful to export wildlife and ship using the carrier that he does. It probably isn't until the package lands on U.S. soil and is accepted by an American that the crime is committed. So I am here to attack the "brown boxers" not the sellers.

Click here for Vixvy's AB review thread. The first post is from 2007 and his customer lives in Greece. No problem. But as you scroll down it only takes a three posts before the poster's location is in the United States. "redknee_freak" is post #3 and "Thiscordia" is post #4. Both in the U.S. Both presumed law breakers. I could go on if I had the time, but these crimes occurred in 2007 ... let's jump ahead to more recent offenders. "Jarvis" in Bellevue, Washington received a "big" order of scorpions earlier this month. "Widow lover" in Oklahoma received a package in February 2015. "Scott L" in Pittsburgh wrote a review one year ago. Of course, there aren't that many recent reviews. Why? Because those I named weren't only crime committers; they were also fucking stupid. I imagine most of Vixvy's American customers are smart enough to not publicize their crimes. Then again, how many times have you seen where someone posts a photo or statement on social media about a crime - even those as heinous as rape and murder - and then gets arrested. People are fucking stupid.

But let's not just talk about Vixvy. Let's move onto SARNAC. His real name is Nikolaj and he is in Warsaw, Poland. His review thread is here. There are only 7 posts so we can call out the criminals. First in June of 2013 "beaker41" of Boise, Idaho listed the spiders. One was Brachypelma vagans. All Brachypelma are CITES (Convention in International Trade of Endangered Species) listed so this illegal act is particularly severe. Thus, "beaker41" is not only a criminal, but completely braindead. "Rabid538" in Exeter, NH was next. Her real name is "Sandra" and she stated that her package was shipped "with registered letter priority shipping". Next are a couple posts by "reptileguy" who states in one post that he encourages "anyone with the proper licenses to" order from him. Is there a possibility this was a legal import? Perhaps, but the post states that the order was for 15 tarantulas. This is why I detailed the expenses of my shipment. It is cost prohibitive to order 15 tarantulas if you are having them sent to a legal designated port of entry and air freight, USFW fees, etc. are expensive! Having an import/export license isn't enough! You must declare the shipment and it must clear USFW inspection and U.S. Customs.

I asked Scott and Debby about the review threads and they were very clear that they will not remove any of these posts even if the user who posted them requests that they do. Scott and Debby want anyone who "brown boxes" to get caught. They can see that USFW is on AB from time to time. They hope USFW law enforcement uses the information on AB as evidence to prosecute "brown boxers". From my conversation with them and Scott's AB post that I quoted above it is clear that they share my views on "brown boxing".

Most importantly, it U.S. Fish and Wildlife's responsibility to enforce their rules and investigate these crimes. It certainly isn't the responsibility of Arachnoboards or Fauna Classifieds or a Facebook classified group or any other conduit foreign sellers use to connect with US buyers willing to break the law by "brown boxing". It is up to USFW to make an example out of the "brown boxers" that they can catch. It is also the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies in the shipper's countries to worry about enforcing any laws that they may be breaking.

I realize I am focusing on the American buyers who are "brown boxing". But foreign sellers can be prosecuted by USFW as well. Foreign sellers have been arrested for their role in American "brown boxing" of tarantulas. One well known example is Sven Koppler of Germany. Here is one news report of that case.

I understand that some of the "brown boxers" are ignorant to the fact that they are committing a crime, but most Americans are familiar with the fact that ignorance of a law is not a defense. I am sure, however, that the majority of the people who order from the likes of Vixvy, SARNAC or a recent new dealer in the UK who is posting in Facebook's classifieds group and will ship via British Post to Americans are aware that they are committing a crime. What I can't understand is why they are willing to risk the punishment to get a bargain or obtain something new. There are a number of us in United States arachnoculture who import legally and in combination offer a daunting variety of interesting arachnids. Additionally, there are reptile importers who offer arachnids.

I hope that someone from USFW reads this blog and passes it on to someone who might investigate our hobby and make examples of some "brown boxers". I hope that someone reads this who actually was unaware that having a package sent from Vixvy or any foreign seller to his or her doorstep is illegal and it prevents him or her from ordering. I don't expect it will have that effect on all. There are plenty of people who think that "brown boxing" is easy and foolishly take the risk.

I just want them caught. There's a rumor floating around that one of the "pseudo dealers" I referred to in an earlier blog - a guy nobody heard of before who popped up out of nowhere but wants to play spider dealer - recently brown boxed Brachypelma auratum from Vixvy. Not only an illegal shipment, but a CITES protected species. A reliable source has told me he admitted it and claimed to not know any better. I hope he fries in bacon grease. This is also an example that Vixvy has blatant disregard for wildlife regulations. CITES is international so he was violating the law as well. Another reason I personally would ban him from any classifieds I moderated.

I know some of my friends like Frank Somma and John Apple have strong views on "brown boxing" and can contribute to this discussion. I encourage them to post below in the comments anything I may have overlooked or stated poorly or incorrectly and "co-author" this post.

Although I am a USFW licensed importer I don't claim to be an authority on USFW regulations. I know how to do what I do legally and that is it. This blog is about American law and, fortunately, in the U.S. everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. So, all the examples I used above are of alleged crimes. I presume the American individuals I mentioned committed a crime, but have no direct knowledge of anything other than the stupidity of their writing of a review for a foreign seller. Additionally, I am not in a position to know about the laws that apply to any foreign sellers. I do, however,  know that foreign sellers other Koppler mentioned above have been prosecuted in the United States for their role in "brown boxing" of arachnids (and reptiles, etc.) by Americans.

MJ