Ever been searched? (your RV that is)

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

jymbee

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2018
Posts
3,445
Location
Upstate NY
Wondering if anyone here has ever been pulled over and had their RV searched by the authorities? We've been through a few agricultural checkpoints where we were waved through after a few basic questions but I expect that would be one place where they might do random inspections?

Nothing more than curiosity mind you-- not considering carrying anything objectionable! :)
 
About 35 years ago I was traveling from Vermont to Detroit so I took the shortcut thru Canada.

They searched my motorhome going into Canada. I had a shotgun and I laid it on the bed so that they would see it. The shotgun was not a problem, However they were very concerned and curious about the Computer that was built into a workstation.

This was before personal computers were widely available.

After some discussion they let me go on my trip.
 
Being searched by a LEO someplace other than a border inspection is rare. Unless they are looking for someone, or something very specific, RV's just don't garner much attention. We tend to be a pretty tame bunch.
 
Crossing the Canadian we were help up about 2 hours while 2 people searched our whole trailer.
 
I came close once, In the spring 20 maybe 25 years ago I had a camper van, and I was driving west on I-10 in Texas near the town of Sonora just after sunset one night, for 30-50 miles approaching Sonora I had seen a lot of strange police activity, police cars with search lights on pulling off at every exit, then back onto the highway. Upon getting to the I-10 exit at Sonora I saw a long line of red brake lights on the traffic heading west, so I pulled off with the intention of getting dinner then getting back on the road. While stopped for dinner (pizza from a local pizza joint) I learned there had been a jail break, and the police were out searching for the escaped convicts, and that they were searching all vehicles passing through or leaving town on I-10. So rather than dealing with that headache and not really wanting to sleep in the RV there with prisoners on the loose, I grabbed a room at the motel across the street from the pizza joint for the night, and by morning the fugitives had been found and I went on my way.
 
In 2017 US Customs confiscated our Canada-bought tomatoes when we returned to the States. But only after asking us if we had any non-US purchased produce.
 
We were stopped once on a random inspection going into Canada. By the time I had all the outside storage bins and the toad unlocked and walked through the documents check the agent was done inside and said I could lock it all up again. My wife was outside walking our dog, and told me the agent never looked in any of the bins or the toad. The whole process only took about 20 minutes.
 
Last edited:
5 Years ago at a canadian customs checkpoint,, two agents in the coach and one outside with me to go thru all the storage bays,, came to a safe I have built in and wanted me to open for inspection
Only had some traveling cash and he only wanted to determine if I had over 10K,,,,nope,,, The two inside were very thorough to the point that evan our ten disc player had been mixed in the order of placement.. Again on the American side and only looking for human stowaways..>>>Dan ( I think what triggered the search was my record of having a concealed carry permit.)
 
I was traveling east on I-10 when I got stopped at a checkpoint near El Paso. I had bought an eight of pot (very small amount) and I had kept it under my bed. I had finished smoking it about a week earlier but the storage space under my bed was cedar and it kept the aroma in. The K9 dog went nuts around my RV. So they had me get out of the RV while one agent searched the RV. I had three cats at the time and I had to put one cat in a cat carrier, one cat in an outside storage and I held the third cat while the agent and the dog searched. The agent spent 15 minutes inside a very small RV (32 foot class A) and he was very pissed that he could not find the pot. I spent the time chatting with two other agents who were very nice. When the agent got done and could not find anything he gave me a warning that if local cops find my roach clips and lighter I could end up with a $600 fine. He was pissed.
 
I have stopped at those border area checkpoints near El Paso on I-10 before, but have never been searched, just the usual 2 or 3 questions, what is your citizenship, where are you heading, etc. Last time I was there in 2019 I think it was only 1 question, the guy asked if I was traveling alone, I told him yes that my wife flew home from Arizona and I was trying to stay ahead of the winter storm, he waved me on through and did not even say a word.
 
All the time. I'm retired military and I frequent military campsites. It's usually cursory, but if alerts are heightened they go through the basement compartments.
 
I agree with Marty that RVers aren’t common targets for searches with the identified exception of border control. With the modern infrared sensors in use at established checkpoints, the US border control knows how many people are on-board before you get to the human and dog. Agricultural inspections are really about commercial quantities, and Canada just wants to make sure we (somewhat arrogant) US folks follow their rules instead of thinking they are the 51st state. I have had dogs sniff around my rigs at border control check points, but we are remarkably boring folks and were quickly waved through.
 
3 times - once going into the states 2 times comming back from the states

Ran into a rooadworks flagger in the Redwoods one day and he said how come Canadian border guys were nice and American border guys asses, and we laughed as we found it the complete opposite the American border guys were great, he had benn searched times each time by US border patrol
 
All the time. I'm retired military and I frequent military campsites. It's usually cursory, but if alerts are heightened they go through the basement compartments.
I’m retired military also. Random searches are common when entering AF bases. One evening I went off base to get a bucket of chicken. Upon reentering the base I was chosen for a random search. The gate guard told me to get out of my vehicle and wait on the curb. He asked if there was anything in the car he should know about. I told him there was a bucket of fried chicken on the front seat. He said the dogs are trained to ignore such things. His dog missed that day of school because he went nuts over the chicken. :cool:
 
We've traveled for 20 years and never searched except as part of an international border crossing, and even that was perfunctory. Have had fresh fruits confiscated at US/Canada border, though. However, any indication that guns or other weapons may be present can trigger a much more indepth inspection. A friend traveling with us had received a permit to bring a shotgun into Canada (totally legit) and was detained/searched for an hour anyway.

Generally speaking, neither your vehicle nor your RV home can be searched without due cause unless you give permission. Of course, if you deny permission at a checkpoint, you can be turned back.
 
We live "near" Detroit and Mary has family in Canada. When we take the coach we usually pass Canadian customs more quickly than by car. Coming back into the states is another matter. We have had the coach searched almost every time and the way they search, I could have hidden a whole lot of stuff in obvious places. What was a great joke to me is that Mary has a fur sleeve to make the shoulder belt more comfortable and some one of the BP thought it was a holster and was looking for the piece that would be in it.....
I guess that BP knew NOTHING about hand guns and Canada.
Matt
 
I was once searched entering the USA at Washington state, they had us wait in the building while they combed through the vehicle. After about 15 minutes they told us we were free to go, there was nothing to find.

As we drove off my buddy reaches for a box of doughnuts we had brought with us and says Holy Sh*t - they ate one of our F-in doughnuts. It had been a full box when we arrived and now one was missing. Maybe they thought we were hiding something inside the jelly center? We both thought it was pretty funny, we still refer to it as the "doughnut tax".
 
We've traveled for 20 years and never searched except as part of an international border crossing, and even that was perfunctory. Have had fresh fruits confiscated at US/Canada border, though. However, any indication that guns or other weapons may be present can trigger a much more indepth inspection. A friend traveling with us had received a permit to bring a shotgun into Canada (totally legit) and was detained/searched for an hour anyway.

Generally speaking, neither your vehicle nor your RV home can be searched without due cause unless you give permission. Of course, if you deny permission at a checkpoint, you can be turned back.
Border Patrols DO NOT need your permission


Courts in both the U.S. and Canada have granted customs agents VERY extensive rights to search, without probable cause, literally anything you have with you when you cross the U.S. / Canadian border.
1625937540314.png
Guide to Crossing the U.S. Canada Border › ...

Customs Searches When Crossing the Border | ezbordercrossing

 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom