German border patrol

[budlover]

SWIM recently took a day trip from Germany to the Netherlands. They later heard that you need to be really careful and to not do that anymore because the German border patrol just stop people for no reason and search. Does this really happen?

[Alfa]

Yes, with dogs and all. However this rarely happens at the smaller border crossings.

[Benga]

Originally Posted by budlover

They later heard that you need to be really careful and to not do that anymore because the German border patrol just stop people for no reason and search.

then again crossing the German border isn't illegal or anything. As long as one is not smuggling anything, the only thing one might lose is time and patience. However, there might be problems if you've consumed substances, this is detected and one is charged with DUI. Might be a problem with cannabis for instance, which can be detected quite a while after consumption - don't know what the current driving regulation is in Germany but this would be certainly be an issue in France for instance.
Also potential drug paraphenalia might induce more delays.

SWIM has been stopped with dogs and all near Maubeuge in Belgium for instance, dogs and all, on the main highway to France. This was over 10 years ago, but it still happens. Often.

b

[jgarlopa]

That's why Cowboy always takes the trains. When in Europe he usually stays in Amsterdam and goes to parties in Belgium and Germany quite often. Police have never stopped him on the trains, so he will keep doing this.

Taking the train is always easier, but one time Cowboy wanted to go to a party in Switzerland and he couldn't afford to pay for the train, so he decided to buy a bus ticket to Basel. He lost €58 when he went to the station on the day of departure and saw Customs and their dogs at the Amstel Station in Amsterdam. Next time he will leave from Eindhoven, where this wouldn't have happened. Damn non-refundable bus tickets...

[biggpri]

swim took a trip to europe last summer, and amsterdam was of course on the agenda. after spending about a week there, swim and his friend bought about 5 grams of bud and 3 grams of hash the day they left for italy. they rode an overnight train, and swim didn't expect anything to happen. in the middle of the night, as they made a stop in germany, some police came aboard and began inspecting peoples' passports. they singled out swim and his friend for a baggage search. thankfully, their search was unsuccessful, and swim and his friend retired to their sleeping cabin for the rest of the night. but early in the morning, swim was awakened by a bunch of commotion in the cabin. swim sat up to discover several italian customs officials and a drug dog all barking orders. they pulled swim and his friend off the train, searched them, and found the weed and hash. swim thought he was screwed, but they just gave him some official form written in italian and put him and his friend on the next train to their destination. swim later found out when he got back home that the paper ordered him to report to a judge or something of that nature. so the lesson here is: don't try to smuggle drugs out of amsterdam; the authorities are already a step ahead.