Contraband Goods Research Articles

An X-ray security screening technique with limited field-of-view

Non-intrusive inspection (NII) systems with high throughput are required for screening baggage, vehicles and cargo at ports of entry. Of the existing NII techniques, systems employing X-rays have undergone rapid evolution. Though well established, the probability of detecting contraband goods in the radiographic image obtained using conventional high energy X-ray systems depends on operator skill and orientation of the contraband material inside the container. Alternative techniques employing back and forward scattered X-rays operating at dual energy can only broadly classify objects containing contraband material and cannot be used to uniquely locate the contraband good. Limitations of X-ray radiography and scattererd imaging systems could be resolved using 2D tomography systems. But, the complexities associated with practical implementation of an X-ray CT system for screening baggage, vehicles and cargo is far from realization. This paper presents an X-ray imaging technique capable of providing 2D tomograms using limited-view projections as an ideal compromise for detecting packaged, vehicle-borne and human-borne explosives, weapons and contraband goods. Numerical simulations of the proposed system employing L-shaped detectors and iterative reconstruction algorithms indicate the feasibility of an alternate security screening system to detect and uniquely locate explosives and contraband goods concealed in cargo, baggage and vehicles.

A Zone of Ambiguity: The Political Economy of Cigarette Bootlegging

This paper examines the development of cigarette bootlegging within the United Kingdom by way of a case study of an entrepreneurial criminal firm which sought to capitalize upon the cigarette price disparities within the European Union, through its professional supply of contraband goods to a highly receptive UK market. The paper contends that by way of the relaxation of trading barriers via European Union legislation, an enterprising criminal firm exploited the emergence of ambiguous zones of trading opportunities within the shifting terrain of the political economy produced by European integration.

The underworld of gold

This paper dissects the global business of gold, from the ground, through the refining and marketing process and on into the hands of the final consumer, while examining the main forms of criminal activity associated with each stage. In one fundamental respect the black market for gold is quite different from that for other contraband goods. With opiates, for example, although there are occasional interrelations, it is reasonable to differentiate between legal and illegal sectors. The legal one uses raw material from designated producing areas, transforming it into a pharmaceutical product to supply a controlled medical demand. The illegal one uses illicitly obtained raw materials to make “recreational” drugs in order to service a demand that in most countries is defined as criminal by its very nature. By contrast, with gold, legally and illegally produced raw materials flow through the same channels to the same set of legitimate firms for refining and casting; and the product of these respectable refineries then is redivided into separate streams serving the overt and the covert portions of the market. Even then the cross-links do not stop. Legally sold gold can be diverted into illicit uses, while illegally obtained gold can end up in the hands of otherwise legitimate manufacturers or consumers. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** AW502007 00002

Ambassador Christer Bonde

[Bonde's instructions are dated 14 June 1655, and were supplemented by secret instructions dated 15 June.By the former, he was ordered, in general, to complete what had been left unsettled in Whitelocke's treaty of 1654; was to do everything possible to ensure that commerce should be free from interruption; to draw up a list of contraband goods which should exclude copper, iron, tar, grain and timber, but should include all weapons of war, soldiers, horses and cloth; to reach agreement on a form of sea-pass; to seek access to English possessions in America, and to the herring and cod fisheries. He was further to try to divert English trade to Russia from Archangel to the Baltic harbours under Swedish control, the duties on such trade not to exceed 2%; to offer permission for customs-free deposit of Russian goods in Ingria or Livonia, with the right to sell them retail; and to emphasize England's obligation, in terms of the Whitelocke treaty, to assist Charles X against any disturbers of the trade in the Baltic or North Sea, in view of the fact that war with Poland was imminent.

The American Revolution Comes to Hannover

In I714 the Elector of Hannover, Georg Ludwig, became George I of England. Hannover continued to be ruled by the English kings until i837 when it was established as an independent monarchy. During this period of dual reign, the affairs of the English throne quite naturally had a profound effect upon the opinions of Hannoverian authorities and their conduct of state business. Thus, in a report dated November 7, I776, the Privy Councilors (Geheime Rdte) in Hannover lamented the fact that, we, also, must consider ourselves at war with the rebellious American colonies, for they have risen against their lawful king, George III.1 Documents preserved in the Hannover State Archives reveal that on at least two occasions American efforts to obtain contraband goods in Hannover involved the electorate directly in the war. The first incident occurred in the summer of 1776. On September 4, a courier from the Secretary of the British Counsul-General in Hamburg, Emmanuel Matthias, delivered the following report to the Hannoverian authorities in the city of Stade:

Searches and Seizures. No Return of Contraband Goods Illegally Seized

Searches and Seizures. No Return of Contraband Goods Illegally Seized

Mr. Bertram Blount

ON April 9 chemistry suffered a loss in the death of Mr. Bertram Blount at the comparatively early age of fifty-four. Never robust, his health had been poor for the past few years; he appeared to be exhausted by his successful struggle in 1915 to bring cotton within the list of contraband goods; for, wonderful as it may seem, it was no light task to convince the Government of the necessity for the step, even with such weighty aid as that of Sir William Ramsay. But of nervous energy Blount had a remarkable store; his staying-power was the admiration of those who knew him as an early cyclist, and later as a pioneer automobilist.

Some Questions of International Law in the European War

International law allows a belligerent two means of preventing wholly or in part sea-borne commerce between his enemy and neutral states. These are: first, the right to seize and confiscate absolute contraband goods destined to enemy territory and conditional contraband intended for the use of the armed forces or government of the enemy state; and, second, the right to blockade the ports and coasts of the enemy and thereby to prevent commercial intercourse with him in all articles whether contraband or not. In the April number of this Journal (pp. 372–401) I discussed in the light of the rules of international law applicable thereto the measures that have been adopted by the British Government in respect to trade in contraband since the beginning of the present war. The present article will be devoted mainly to a consideration of the British order in council of March 11,1915, the purpose and effect of which was to establish a blockade of all commerce entering and leaving Germany.

The “Continuous Voyage” Doctrine During the Civil War, and Now

Mr. Atherly-Jones, in his Commerce in War, says that what the courts of the United States did, during the Civil War, was not to apply the principle of a continuous voyage (which had been originally asserted in support of national monopolies of colonial trade), to the carriage of contraband goods, still less to blockades; but to depart from the old rules of evidence.

Some Effects of Neutralization

A neutral state may at any time lay aside its neutrality and engage in war. This is recognized, though with a somewhat mediaeval flavor, by Macchiavelli in his counsel to the ideal prince, where he advises the latter never to remain neutral in a war between his neighbors, but to join with one side or the other, since by his aid that side would gain the victory and he could share in the spoil.However unlikely it may be that such motives would bear weight to-day, it is nevertheless true that the right to make war at will exists in every sovereign state unless, by reason of international agreement, it is placed altogether outside of the realm of war and devoted to perpetual peace. The duties of simple, or self-imposed neutrality are now clearly recognized and quite generally observed. The neutral state must maintain exclusive jurisdiction and sovereignty over its land and territorial waters, and is bound as well to prevent within its borders all acts inconsistent with complete impartiality toward belligerents. It must, moreover, regulate the use of its harbors and coaling stations according to the recognized provisions of international law; it is bound to prevent the enlistment within its borders of troops destined for foreign service, and, finally, it is compelled to acquiesce in the penalties incurred by its subjects when engaged in the carriage of contraband goods, breach of blockade, or resistance to the belligerent rights of stoppage, visit and search.