Customs officer

From ArticleWorld

The Customs officer is a law enforcement officer that works in enforcing custom laws and has duties that include confiscating contraband once detected, being sure that import taxes are paid and preventing illegal entries in the jurisdiction he represents. The United States of America has seen customs officers being a part of the US Customs Bureau in the past. Nowadays they work for the CBP and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).

Customs officers have been given a bad name in the past because of several illegal entries in different countries across the world. Especially in the European Union, inhabitants consider them to be corrupt and thus the negative image they have. In an attempt to fight this belief several governments have taken serious actions. In rare cases even an entire customs office personal was fired after taking bribes from people that were involved in illegal activities. Bonuses have also been used to make customs officers undergo their job properly but corruption in the customs office still can be considered a problem in most developing states. Also, several reports of important illegal substances being confiscated and other types of merchandise having the same fate have been reported, thus raising popularity in some locations.