Airport Customs Abuse? (Tanger)

Hi Anoush

What an ordeal and is something that should not happen. Yes you should get your money back and show them the information contained in your email.
Did you have travel insurance?

I have had problems also at times but have point blank refused to pay usually is my golf clubs or electrical equipment as they think you maybe selling it on for huge profit? Dumbass I know

Hope it doesn't spoil your holiday.

I just wrote to the airport. Lets see if they do anything. This practice has a name: EXTORTION - and in most countries is a crime. I will try to make it through the easy way - dialogue - and if that doesn't work I will not waste my energy.

I have plans to make business in Morocco, but after reading this I became seriously concerned >

Almost three in every ten companies expect to give gifts to tax officials, while bribery is sometimes exchanged in meetings with tax officials (ES 2013, GCR 2015-2016). One-third of Moroccans believe most tax officials are corrupt (AB 2013).

https://www.business-anti-corruption.co … s/morocco/

Hey my sister is a well established and well known attorney here in Morocco and can help you with customs. I live in the U.S and I've had many friends that had issues with Moroccan customs until I had my sister get involved.

You can give me a call anytime ‭***‬ I'll do my best to help you

Hey Mohamed,

Thanks a lot. I will call your sister once I get an answer from the airport - just to confirm if that was really the case. I will keep this in mind every time I am forced to pass trough customs service, but based on what I heard it will take ages to get this money back - even with a lawyer to help me - and I don't want to start my life in Tanger having to engage into more trouble.

Even so, I appreciate your help.

Expats, be warned!

Best,
Anoush.

My lost shipment has been located and is now on it's way. Thanks to  the Washington DC Maritime and Resolution Division.

Yes I had to pay again as the original shipper went bankrupt. But the Bonding and Surety company has been in constant contact with me and I will get reimbursed for the second expenditures. 
I hired a company in  Casablanca that deals with incoming  shipments, customs and all the paperwork and inspection  and they will handle everything  and then deliver my personal goods to me. SO FAR IT HAS BEEN OVER $7,000 out of pocket.  I am just happy it is finally coming. I have fought and worked with many companies to mske this happen. I am just happy I brought all my receipts, correspondence and records with me.

Happy to hear, Cathy!

Thank you.
I am relieved

Hi there,
I am a US Citizen, been living in Tangier for a couple of years.
I think what happened was a misunderstanding.
A friend of mind also refused to bring in his photographic equipments (other than basic camera) at Tangier's Airport because he forgot to option a permit before entering the city. So basically he had to leave his strobes, connectors, and laptop (that in this case will be used to process the images) at custom. He got them back without problem when he left for New York a month later.
I have a feeling that anything that look like something that can be used to make money would need a permit shown upon entry.
This friend of mind ended up using my laptop to transfer his photos to the iCloud, and have them all processed when he is back in New York. All was good, as he did not need to pay anything at all.
The local language (Darija) can sound rough to foreigners, and Darija's accent sounds even worst when applied to the English language!
From my experience, the custom agents official in Tangier are the best in this country. They are patient, polite, and never hassle Americans and British. We (US Passport holders) have a very good reputations in Tangier, as no US Citizens in Tangier has ever been convicted with possession of illegal substance in the last 10 years or so. This cannot be said about the Spanish and Eastern European visitors. I know this because as an owner of a pied-a-terre here, I have been passing through this airport like more than two dozen times in the last two years alone!
Hope your next visit will be better......

Do you work for the airport? Did you read what I wrote? If that's the case, the document issued by Casablanca airport has no value at all in Tanger. They clearly say that music instruments should not be charged.

To pay 6.000 dhms as if it was an "importation tax" is outrageous in any way. I am not "importing" anything to Morocco. Those were mine, and I had how to prove it. They didn't charged for anything else valuable.I had a Mac desktop with me and they let it pass. Other people also passed with computers, cameras, etc (including a hippie guy with an accoustic guitar). My music instruments were NOT in the original package (therefore, it clearly signalises that I was not going to sell them), and I brought the paper of everything with me to prove they were years old  (in the end, these papers were used AGAINST me - because that's how they calculated my fare). There is no excuse for this.

I have been into situations in which my instruments were confiscated at the airport - but once I gave them the papers, confirming those were mine, they gave me back with no extra-cost. The experience I had at Tanger airport was different: they only gave me the option to enter with my instruments after paying for it. The value that I paid is far superior to the value a musician would make in Morocco, by the way. They wanted to make some money out of me, and for that reason they kept me for 2 hours in the airport - around midnight - if that's not harassment for you, I feel sorry for such internalised  authoritarianism of yours - but I believe there are better ways to solve problems, and that citizens from abroad should also have/know their RIGHTS.

And please: don't try to make it sound like a "cultural clash". I have been to Morocco many times, and one of the reasons why I always return is because I love Arabic/Berber music. Arabic language - for me -  doesn't sound harsh at all - it is the language of poetry, of everything that is sacred. What sounds harsh is to be in a room with 3 guys looking at you as if I were caught with drugs, claiming for money that I couldn't get so easily, and not allowing me to use the telephone or the internet. Again, no excuses. It was intimidation and extortion, and I will definitely avoid that airport.

I don't work for the airport.
I am a US Citizen from New York with a couple pied-a-terre in Tangier and Essaouira.
For many Tangier Airport is still the best in Morocco.
S*** happens, I guess..........! Oh, well.......