Dear Sir: The records of this office indicate that you might have an interest in certain property seized by U.S. Customs in Chicago, Illinois.................
Until you accept delivery of any item, whether from an off shore cigar vendor, Dell computer, CBid, etc. the property still legally belongs to the seller. That is why in cases of lost orders, the seller/vendor makes the insurance claim. Look at the paragraph above: "you might have an interest." If you order Cuban cigars and U.S. Customs impounds them, unless you claim that they are yours, ownership has not transferred from seller to buyer. Because they are contraband, U.S. Customs has no obligation to return them to the seller, so they are "disposed" of. If you respond to a U.S. Customs letter, acknowledging purchase, you may be prosecuted. Where only a couple of boxes are involved, U.S. Customs snares the sticks, and sends the letter that begins with the paragraph atop this post.
You may have read, recently, that a group of lawyers were prosecuted for the importation of several hundred Cuban cigars. U.S. Customs interceded delivery and had the addressee come to the common carrier's depot to pick up the cigars. When he signed for receipt, acknowledging that this was a parcel he'd ordered, BOOM! He was arrested.
Everyone who buys Cuban cigars may ultimately lose some money. Some vendors guarantee delivery, but once you've had cigars impounded by Customs, you can expect it will happen again and again, unless you are a businessperson engaged in international commerce. If you get shipments of kewpie dolls from Hong Kong, the likelihood that U.S. Customs will examine 100 cases of dolls looking for a box of Monte #2 habano is slim to none.
Are impounds up?? According to my friends at USPS, it depends on which Customs office serves your geographic area.
The question is: If you order, for example, a box of Bolivar Belicosos Finos (Habano) from the Netherlands for $242.00 + shipping and U.S. Customs grabs them, will it seriously impact your wallet? Is it worth it?