Smuggling in Modern Traveller

[rinku]

Or just smuggling for economic reasons, as it's always been. You may note that the last thought in my previous post makes no mention of method of manufacture.

"Yes, yes, of COURSE we can print those here. At three times the cost of what it takes an industrial fabricator on Mora to do the same job. Even with shipping and import duties it's just not worth it on any scale."

 

[Terry Mixon]

Robot Handbook page 51

"A TL13 enhanced fabrication chamber can create additional fabrication chambers, even complete robots with Advanced brains, although it is limited to brains and brain options one TL lower than the fabrication chamber itself. An enhanced chamber cannot create Self-aware or Conscious robot brains. An enhanced fabrication chamber includes the technology to act as an advanced bioreaction chamber (see previous page). It can print a full organ, limb or similar replacement part"

Bolding Mine.

Yes, but I wasn’t wrong.

 

[Condottiere]

It is, of course, one of the foundations for the genre.

Human trafficking.

 

[rinku]

It did cross my mind. But I figured even that comes back to economics.

 

[swordtart]

Smuggling through space will not be an issue for most goods. It will be crossing the extra-territoriality. Depending on the planetary resources dropping into a prearranged field in the middle of nowhere in an air raft might not be an issue. Where the orbit is closely controlled anti-smuggling will just be making sure everyone only lands at the star port rather than inspecting every single hold.

Cursory checks will be made to keep law abiding citizens honest, but conniving criminals might evade this quite easily (by simply being brazen enough). The real purpose of these sorts of customs checks is requiring you to declare what you are carrying. If you are smuggling you will have to lie and that eliminates your defence of "honest mistake guv". Customs agents are often good at spotting suspicious behaviour rather than having insight into where things are hidden. You don't find smugglers by searching the ship you search the ship because you suspect smugglers. Intelligence operatives will likely have identified most smugglers before they even enter the system (and might even been the agency that supplied the smuggled goods). As a counter to fabrication you will be reminded of what goods are illegal and the required declaration will cover not only current possession but also possession at any time while under local jurisdiction).

Then you have to actually move the goods on planet and this will happen whether you fabricate them on landing or buy them elsewhere. If the system has any controls it will by default not allow ships to land wherever they like so you are already making yourself visible by deviating from the places where they can control imports. A significant number of "importers" will either be agents or narks. Many captures will be sting operations rather than customs officers stumbling on illegal trade. Of course some people are stupid and in advertising for a market make themselves an obvious target.

If you are caught with illegal goods regardless of how you obtained them you will be obviously guilty as you failed to report the cargo when challenged on entering the system. The system government can do with you what it will as you are now very firmly on their ground, the empire probably won't help you unless you have very good connections and you might find those connections severed abruptly.

The above procedure won't stop you necessarily getting illegal goods onto the planet, there are too many ways to get round that and smugglers are inventive. What it will do is slow down circulation of those goods and make it a hassle. Stiff penalties and exemplar punishments will often dry up the market making moving smuggled goods more difficult and definitely forcing you to deal with unscrupulous criminals who won't hesitate to drop you in it if it serves their interests.

Some "importers" might snitch just to create a demand for goods or their competitors might be very happy to see them picked up by the rozzers.

The marketing and getting payment will be the biggest challenge. The government might try you and send you to jail or exile you. Criminal competitors might just chop you up for cat food.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Smuggling through space will not be an issue for most goods. It will be crossing the extra-territoriality. Depending on the planetary resources dropping into a prearranged field in the middle of nowhere in an air raft might not be an issue. Where the orbit is closely controlled anti-smuggling will just be making sure everyone only lands at the star port rather than inspecting every single hold.

Cursory checks will be made to keep law abiding citizens honest, but conniving criminals might evade this quite easily (by simply being brazen enough). The real purpose of these sorts of customs checks is requiring you to declare what you are carrying. If you are smuggling you will have to lie and that eliminates your defence of "honest mistake guv". Customs agents are often good at spotting suspicious behaviour rather than having insight into where things are hidden. You don't find smugglers by searching the ship you search the ship because you suspect smugglers. Intelligence operatives will likely have identified most smugglers before they even enter the system (and might even been the agency that supplied the smuggled goods). As a counter to fabrication you will be reminded of what goods are illegal and the required declaration will cover not only current possession but also possession at any time while under local jurisdiction).

Then you have to actually move the goods on planet and this will happen whether you fabricate them on landing or buy them elsewhere. If the system has any controls it will by default not allow ships to land wherever they like so you are already making yourself visible by deviating from the places where they can control imports. A significant number of "importers" will either be agents or narks. Many captures will be sting operations rather than customs officers stumbling on illegal trade. Of course some people are stupid and in advertising for a market make themselves an obvious target.

Is it only interstellar traffic that is required to the Starport or does system traffic need to go through as well. (generally-speaking as every system will obviously be different.) What about spaceposts? Private/corporate spaceports? Are inspections done during medical or other types of emergencies?

If you are caught with illegal goods regardless of how you obtained them you will be obviously guilty as you failed to report the cargo when challenged on entering the system. The system government can do with you what it will as you are now very firmly on their ground, the empire probably won't help you unless you have very good connections and you might find those connections severed abruptly.

Agreed

The above procedure won't stop you necessarily getting illegal goods onto the planet, there are too many ways to get round that and smugglers are inventive. What it will do is slow down circulation of those goods and make it a hassle. Stiff penalties and exemplar punishments will often dry up the market making moving smuggled goods more difficult and definitely forcing you to deal with unscrupulous criminals who won't hesitate to drop you in it if it serves their interests.

Agreed

Some "importers" might snitch just to create a demand for goods or their competitors might be very happy to see them picked up by the rozzers.

If you worry about criminal competitors chopping the smugglers up, wouldn't snitches have that same concern?

The marketing and getting payment will be the biggest challenge. The government might try you and send you to jail or exile you. Criminal competitors might just chop you up for cat food.

Yeah. This I have to give more thought to. How are the people making contact with the smugglers to "order" what they need? Payment seems pretty easy as tracking money the way the governments do these days just isn't possible in Charted Space due to distance and comm-lag. (as long as you are not only doing business in one or two systems).

Thanks for all of your guys' help. This is becoming a much more complicated idea than I originally thought. Not sure if that is good for the players' peace of mind or not. lol

 

[Condottiere]

Illegal substances tend to predominate.

Though, it appears that you can synthetize them locally.

 

[swordtart]

Is it only interstellar traffic that is required to the Starport or does system traffic need to go through as well. (generally-speaking as every system will obviously be different.) What about spaceposts? Private/corporate spaceports? Are inspections done during medical or other types of emergencies?

It will depend on who is being paid off. The aim is usually to limit access to the majority. Some will claim to have a legitimate need and the wealthier you are (either as an individual or a corporate body) the easier it will be to buy legitimacy. Owning your own spaceport is a high enough bar that you might get a waiver for system traffic. Obviously if it became clear that you were a drop-off point for contraband and you didn't grease the right palms you might find your waiver revoked at the least convenient time.

Often normal procedures will be waived in the event of a medical emergency but, whilst no customs official wants to delay aide there is nothing stopping them checking up afterward and launching a subsequent investigation.

If you worry about criminal competitors chopping the smugglers up, wouldn't snitches have that same concern?

Not everyone is smart enough to take the long view, tragedy of the commons. Penalties for snitching in the real world are often brutally high. People still do it.

Yeah. This I have to give more thought to. How are the people making contact with the smugglers to "order" what they need?

Probably like male spiders courting female spiders - carefully. Bent brokers, small ads or even overt requests by the buyer themselves when out of system where the goods are not restricted. People have used computer game chats to plan real crime. The hackneyed one would be a notice in the starport bar - "Interested party seeks to purchase a laser rifle. Delivery to <address> secures KCr20 ask for Pericles". If the value of goods to the smuggler is low compared to the reward it may be worth the risk of getting scammed every once in a while.

A dead drop might be safe for the recipient and even legit local parcel companies might just accept packages - no questions asked (either by policy or laziness). Such packages can be expected to undergo scans when passing through borders, but inventive smugglers will find a way (at least for a while).

Unlucky couriers might find out the perfectly legit seeming sealed package passed to them by a reputable contact turns out to contain contraband. People post illegal things to each other all the time and customs rarely prosecute an unsuspecting carrier. Of course it that carrier got reputation for being "unobservant" then they might become popular with a particular type of customer. People who find a reliable way of shipping contraband might keep increasing the quantities shipped to maximise profits. All very profitable until "that" day.

Payment seems pretty easy as tracking money the way the governments do these days just isn't possible in Charted Space due to distance and comm-lag. (as long as you are not only doing business in one or two systems).

Bartering is possible but there is the risk that when you leave the system a random check might require an explanation of where you got it and receipts being required. Of course you can always claim it is freight and fake the shipping dockets. They are probably checking for theft at that point but if you start sweating...

Thanks for all of your guys' help. This is becoming a much more complicated idea than I originally thought. Not sure if that is good for the players' peace of mind or not. lol

It shouldn't be either routine or impossible or there is no adventure. Travellers should be living in the challenge zone. Depending on the reward the risk should be proportionate. CRB p256 gives guidance. Smuggling at a low level is unlikely to attract the interest of organised crime (though disorganised crime is another matter), it's when people smell the big money that they become interested and dangerous.

 

[hopsnbaer]

There are plenty of low-tech planets. While there may be some fabricators on the planet, they are probably not widely available.

 

[ross]

Yeah. It seems that smuggling (as it is traditionally considered) would be mainly art objects, historical artifacts, and other things that derive their value from their provenance. Weapon smuggling, luxury goods, electronics, cybernetics, armor, drugs, and other things of these natures would seem to be better off smuggled as blueprints for fabricators, or printed on the ship's fabricators after clearing customs.

This is how I see it IMTU as well.

 

[OriginalCaruso]

Seems to me that the issue is with holding then distribution of product regardless of whether fabricated, grown or otherwise synthesised. Customs inspection could easily clear a ship with a fabricator, once Customs leave the ship the fabricator could be put to work

Whilst fabricators could be a prohibited item, it’s the physical product which is the issue, not the means of creation

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Seems to me that the issue is with holding then distribution of product regardless of whether fabricated, grown or otherwise synthesised. Customs inspection could easily clear a ship with a fabricator, once Customs leave the ship the fabricator could be put to work

Whilst fabricators could be a prohibited item, it’s the physical product which is the issue, not the means of creation

TLDR: I spent some time chasing smugglers, and then spent some time pretending to be a smuggler as a training aid for teaching people to catch smugglers. The means of production is VERY much the issue.

Part of what I always enjoyed about Traveller is how it can be inspired from almost every facet of my life. In my misspent youth, I spent a lot of time learning about "precursors" in smuggling, the drug trade and counter-proliferation. These are the items that seem innocuous, have multiple uses, but can be critical components for the illicit trade. Some of the time, we would seize items from people who had zero idea that there was a nefarious option for their dual-use items. Sometimes there is a legitimate purpose that "outs" a government agent (I was once pulled off a plane at Charles De Gaulle because my laundry reeked of explosives residue). Sometimes, they were very obviously skirting the law ("Why do you have twenty aerospace-grade titanium solvent traps handily threaded for 5/8-24 in your [Austrian-Firearm Manufacturer] branded baggage?").

This farcical event can make for some very fun Traveller adventures, with the Patron using the crew as unwitting smugglers ("What? The Book of G'Kar is considered heretical contraband? I can't even read Narn, how was I supposed to know what these are? I just work here...")

Here is a fun read for inspiration: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/uzbekistan/PrecursorRep.pdf

 

[Endie]

TLDR: I spent some time chasing smugglers, and then spent some time pretending to be a smuggler as a training aid for teaching people to catch smugglers. The means of production is VERY much the issue.

Part of what I always enjoyed about Traveller is how it can be inspired from almost every facet of my life. In my misspent youth, I spent a lot of time learning about "precursors" in smuggling, the drug trade and counter-proliferation. These are the items that seem innocuous, have multiple uses, but can be critical components for the illicit trade. Some of the time, we would seize items from people who had zero idea that there was a nefarious option for their dual-use items. Sometimes there is a legitimate purpose that "outs" a government agent (I was once pulled off a plane at Charles De Gaulle because my laundry reeked of explosives residue). Sometimes, they were very obviously skirting the law ("Why do you have twenty aerospace-grade titanium solvent traps handily threaded for 5/8-24 in your [Austrian-Firearm Manufacturer] branded baggage?").

This farcical event can make for some very fun Traveller adventures, with the Patron using the crew as unwitting smugglers ("What? The Book of G'Kar is considered heretical contraband? I can't even read Narn, how was I supposed to know what these are? I just work here...")

Here is a fun read for inspiration: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/uzbekistan/PrecursorRep.pdf

One of the more informative and well-laid-out posts on these forums. Hugely interesting and useful, thank you.

Although for me, the real tragedy in your post is that you had to spend more time in CDG, just when you thought you were out. Nobody deserves that.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

One of the more informative and well-laid-out posts on these forums. Hugely interesting and useful, thank you.

Although for me, the real tragedy in your post is that you had to spend more time in CDG, just when you thought you were out. Nobody deserves that.

Thanks- I try.

I just wanted to go home, at that point. Should have dumped my clothes at my apartment (I was a geographic bachelor in Germany at the time), but was worried about missing my flight out of Nurnberg, so I just took the same bags to the airport instead.

The look on the other passengers when I returned was priceless.

 

[rinku]

One of the major items smuggled into Australia is tobacco. It's not illegal, just heavily taxed, so there's a lot of coin to be made there.

 

[MasterGwydion]

One of the major items smuggled into Australia is tobacco. It's not illegal, just heavily taxed, so there's a lot of coin to be made there.

Yeah, but Tobacco is too easy to Fabricate and in an environment of interstellar trade. The tech required can be purchased within a few parsecs. That is true of most things that are organic. High-grade coffee for me and @Terry Mixon lol

 

[rinku]

Yeah, point was always that economics is what drives it all. Scarcity affects price but profit is what crime is looking for.

If a rare artifact can be bought by anyone and sold normally, it gets traded, not smuggled. Goods are smuggled because it's profitable to take the risk and make the effort to do so. A 5% duty on alcohol isn't going to result in much serious attempts to avoid it - a 50% one WILL see serious attempts to avoid the tax.

A true post scarcity world probably won't be importing much, may not bother taxing anything and would be ignored by smugglers.