10 items you won't get through customs

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Photos: 10 items travelers won't get through customs

Try as you might, seeing the green fairy probably isn't going to happen these days: Modern absinthe isn't made with wormwood (which is what was thought to give it hallucinogenic properties back in Vincent van Gogh's day) anymore, but it's still illegal to bring certain kinds of absinthe in from other countries.

Gardening enthusiasts, prepare to present any plant item that you want to bring into the States—even crafts made with straw—to a customs officer for inspection. You'll need a permit even for innocuous-sounding items like cut flowers with berries attached, nursery stock, and seeds. Other fauna, like "noxious weeds," aren't allowed, period. (Even if some do sound quite pleasant, like apricot cape tulip.)

It's safe to assume that you'll need a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov/permits) to bring any ivory into the country, due to the Endangered Species Act. (Unless the item in question is from a warthog, but, really, who wants that?)

So many items have been stolen from museums and churches that any ancient artifact (like pre-Columbian objects, Native American artifacts, Byzantine items, culturally significant Iraqi property, etc.) requires an export permit -- and a real one at that: There are many fake certificates floating around.

Bush meat made from African wildlife and anything imbued with meat products — like bouillon, soup mixes, etc. — from most countries could introduce serious pathogens into the U.S. and spread unpleasant conditions like foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, mad cow disease, and the avian flu. That goes for canned and dried meats too.

Economic sanctions prevent visitors from bringing items back from these countries (Cuban cigars, for example). You can apply for a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control if you wish to import something, but it's rare that you'll actually get one.

One teensy piece of fruit carried onto an airplane caused the great California Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak of the early 1980s. If you're determined to bring fruit back, the USDA has a long list of what's permissible (aphis.usda.gov/favir) — nearly every fruit and veggie (possibly with the exception of an apple you bought in an airport, for example) requires a permit.

Tempting as it might be to stock up on faux labels when you're out of the country, goods like fake Chanel bags and nearly real Mickey Mouse knickknacks are subject to U.S. copyright and trademark protections. The government is so serious about enforcing this that your haul of "confusingly similar" trademarked merchandise could be seized.

To make it rain on the plane, you'll have to report the cash first. Smuggling "bulk currency" (an offense under the Bank Secrecy Act) is the kind of thing drug traffickers are known to do, therefore U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn't take kindly to it. Money orders, travelers' checks, and foreign coins — not just paper bills — count too.

Hauling an animal-skin drum through an airport seems ripe for a comedy of misunderstanding anyway, but some goat-skin drums aren't treated properly, and have been tied to a cutaneous anthrax case, putting them on the Centers for Disease Control's restricted list. Same goes for some African drums.

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Try as you might, seeing the green fairy probably isn't going to happen these days: Modern absinthe isn't made with wormwood (which is what was thought to give it hallucinogenic properties back in Vincent van Gogh's day) anymore, but it's still illegal to bring certain kinds of absinthe in from other countries.

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