Keeping war trophies a slippery slope

Know the rules
What you can — and cannot — bring home


Keeping war trophies a slippery slope
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 15, 2008 9:40:22 EDT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — It might not get you into as much trouble, but that little Tabasco bottle filled with Iraqi sand is as illegal as a fully automatic AK47.

Both items violate federal rules for bringing stuff back from the war zone. Sure, the feds don’t routinely raid houses in the middle of the night looking for tiny bottles of dirt, but U.S. Customs officials are serious about keeping foreign soil from leaving foreign soil, fearful that bugs and germs could be spread from overseas.

Unfortunately, the rules and regulations for bringing home war trophies and other souvenirs from combat zones are often vague, and interpretations vary from command to command. Many people choose to bring nothing back for fear of landing in hot water, while some throw caution to the wind and sneak back items that any recruit knows are bad news.

Consider the case of Sgt. Leonardo San Juan Jr., a reconnaissance Marine who was indicted by a federal grand jury Nov. 29 in San Diego for possessing an illegal AK47 assault rifle.

The case began in 2006, when San Juan’s then-fiancee told an instructor at an Oceanside indoor shooting range of 50 AK47 machine guns that her boyfriend had sneaked in from Iraq and stored in their garage. The woman, who is now San Juan’s wife, “elaborated that he would sneak them back in medical kit bags,” according to government documents filed with the U.S. District Court in San Diego.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/06/marine_wartrophies_061508w/

possession of an unapproved or post-1986 NFA Title 2/Class III AK-47 in the United States is a 10-year Federal felony, in addition to the smuggling charges.