About those flutes

[Richard D]

Issue a formal apology and compensation to Boujemaa Razgui for the destruction of his rare flutes by US Customs agents.

"These instruments are priceless to me. I make them with my own hands and I can’t make a living without them."

Boujemaa Razgui, a professional performer on traditional flutes, lost 13 precious flutes on 12/22/2013 when an uninformed and aggressive US Customs agent incorrectly decided that they were "agricultural products." The appropriate action would have been to allow him to explain the contents of his luggage.

The greater insult is that a US Customs representative has now issued a public statement defending the destruction of these flutes.

We request that the White House issue a formal apology and compensation to Mr Razgui for the destruction of his flutes. In addition, a new set of US Customs guidelines protecting all musicians who travel to and from the US are urgently needed.


https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/issue-formal-apology-and-compensation-boujemaa-razgui-destruction-his-rare-flutes-us-customs-agents/SDLnbp4T

[Beaverhausen]

1. The White House?

No.

And not in any way excusing what the customs official did, but why didn't he have these flutes in his carry-on? If they are how he makes his living, I really don't understand checking them in.

Flame away.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Why they were destroyed

would have happened if they were in his carry on as well.

They were considered agricultural goods, and like your very rare Genoa Salami, if found they would have.

[Beaverhausen]

6. and he could have explained to them what they were

and not have had them destroyed.

edit- now that I've read the posts below, I double down on wondering why he didn't bring the case with the finished flutes with him on the plane. I'm a musician and won't ever check my guitar. It comes on the plane with me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. He did, and they still did

there are forms that he could have filled before the trip. Still you take that risk. The job of border protection is to protect the nation from among other things, agricultural pests. They do it well. There should be exceptions, (why the forms, and why, when I bring tortillas from Mexico I always declare them). But what they did is their job.

I personally do not like it, but that bamboo was less processed than my tortillas, It is an invasive species. It might look dead, but if you plant it, that is one way it spreads. Arrundo, a type of bamboo, is now endemic in California river valleys. That shit burns... HOT. Why border protection does what it does.

I am not justifying the destruction of the flutes, but there are things he should consider, including filling the export\import forms.

[Beaverhausen]

10. "He did" what?

He checked the flutes in a container in his suitcase. The customs people said they only destroyed the raw bamboo so it could be that someone just took the container with the flutes because...well just because they do steal things out of suitcases. A couple of friends of mine were just mentioning having flown a lot this year and had clothes taken from their suitcases that were checked through.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Funny, I travel often

and I have yet to lose anything out of my suitcase. Maybe I am lucky, I don't know.

They were destroyed by US CUSTOMS officials, while crossing a United States Border. Yes, I will assume they destroyed both raw and processed bamboo.

I have no idea why people are having this much trouble with this concept. In your carry on, if US CUSTOMS finds it, makes little difference. (Why the forms)

There are things you pack in your carry on, such as an extra change of clothes, if delays are possible, and your meds and electronics. But if he believed it to be that valuable to him, carry on is not a bad idea. But he should have filled those forms.

[Beaverhausen]

16. You are lucky- or are you calling my friends liars?

and you are also lucky you have never lost a bag. I never put anything in a checked suitcase that is so valuable that the loss would harm me in any way. No one should.

And, can you not see the posts below ours? Even the musician believes the flutes were not destroyed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. The musician can believe what he wants

he is accusing US Customs, or others, of a serious felony.

I hope he has evidence.

And I am not calling them liars. Just relating my experience. In my experience I have had nothing disappear from my checked bag. Though have found the cute TSA checked your belongings note a few times.

OTOH I had some food taken away by TSA. I learned my lesson with goods like those, pack them in my checked bag.

Yes, people have stuff taken away by baggage handlers. I just said I was lucky, and I travel often. How that translates to your friends being liars I have no idea.

As to the rest, I am quite positive that was US Customs. It is what they do.

We had another poster suggest he reports this to TSA, which also led to my going since this is a US Customs issue, not TSA.

And no, I have a few folks on this place on ignore, so no I cannot see the rest of the thread, nor do I have an interest.

It just strikes me as highly interesting, since I realize what this is about. So should he. Those flutes are agricultural goods. And given CISTES regulations, if he has anything from a rare wood, better filled that paperwork.

Oh and one more thing, off to the trash this thread goes.

[Beaverhausen]

18. here's a link for you

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/01/02/259168342/destroyed-by-customs-or-stolen-whatever-happened-flutes-are-gone

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Again, from your link

A spokesperson for American Airlines said yesterday evening that the carrier had been unaware of this incident until we contacted the airline, but noted that once baggage is unloaded, responsibility passes over to Customs. Razgui says that he has not tried to contact American Airlines himself since the carrier delivered the bag, as he had believed that Customs had destroyed his instruments along with the bamboo canes.

I said nothing different. It is a tragedy, but it is what it is in many ways. This actually happens regularly to travelers who come to the US with far more common items. I keep mentioning that Genoa Salami, since that one is commonly seized.

[jberryhill]

2. Are these flutes dried, or made of fresh bamboo?

The greater insult is that a US Customs representative has now issued a public statement defending the destruction of these flutes.

What did the statement say?

There is sometimes more than one side to a story, and it seems there is a lot more to this than "US Customs Destroyed Flutes":

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/01/02/259168342/destroyed-by-customs-or-stolen-whatever-happened-flutes-are-gone

However, what Razgui received at his home a day after his arrival back in the U.S. was far different than what he expected. He had originally packed some clothes, personal items and canes of professional-grade bamboo for making new flutes. And atop the canes he had packed a special case containing 13 finished instruments that he had made himself — 11 neys and two other Middle Eastern flutes called kawalas.

...

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection asserted in an email exchange with NPR Music yesterday that there were no instruments involved at all in the agency's actions, "just fresh bamboo seized that were found by CBP agriculture specialists." (U.S. law stipulates that such fresh plants are prohibited from entering the country to deter the spread of plant pathogens.) According to the Customs representative, the only materials seized were "fresh green bamboo canes approximately three to four feet long inside of unclaimed baggage." So what happened to those flutes?

...

After a day spent talking to international press, an anguished Razgui says that now he doesn't know what to make of the whole situation. "Maybe someone took the flutes," he says.

The longer story seems to be that he had more than flutes in the bag.

He apparently had a case of musical instruments, and additionally had fresh bamboo canes. The bamboo canes are going to be seized and destroyed, regardless of what their use was going to be, since you can't bring in fresh bamboo.

Customs says it destroyed the fresh bamboo, not the musical instruments. His itinerary was from Marrakesh to Madrid to New York, and the case with the instruments could well have been stolen at any point along the way.

[msanthrope]

5. Good find. nt

[HappyMe]

8. The flutes could still turn up,

or somebody along the way stole them.

[jberryhill]

9. They could

If they were in a case inside a larger piece of luggage, then if the case was separated from the bag during handling, it could be floating around American Airlines' luggage department as an unclaimed bag.

[HappyMe]

11. Oh boy.

The unclaimed baggage department makes me think of some poor souls wandering around in a huge warehouse with a vague list. "Large blue Samsonite, partially scraped off radio station sticker, K. Sputnik, CA."

I'm sure because of this publicity, he might get it back.

[jberryhill]

13. Trying to match your bag to one of these charts is fun...

...as I've had to do a couple of times....

When your bag is lost, you have to classify it on the Periodic Table of Luggage:

[frazzled]

4. The facts of this case are not at all clear, and the flutes ...

may still show up.

Here's the most detailed reporting I could find, in which Customs admitted to destroying the canes of fresh bamboo that were in his luggage (he should have known better than to try to bring those in), but not the instruments, which were packed separately in a special case. When he received his luggage, he was informed that the bamboo canes had been destroyed, in accordance with agricultural regulations, but the case and instruments was missing. Now even the musician claims he doesn't know what happened to the flutes. I'm hoping that the case containing finished instruments was simply not put back together in his luggage, and that it will be found. So let's not get ahead of ourselves here. And the White House has absolutely nothing to do with this.

Razgui says that he spent two hours at baggage claim and filed a missing bag report with American. At that point, the musician says, "American told me to go home to Massachusetts as I had planned, and they'd deliver the bag when they found it."

However, what Razgui received at his home a day after his arrival back in the U.S. was far different than what he expected. He had originally packed some clothes, personal items and canes of professional-grade bamboo for making new flutes. And atop the canes he had packed a special case containing 13 finished instruments that he had made himself — 11 neys and two other Middle Eastern flutes called kawalas.

Razgui says that when American delivered his luggage on Dec. 23, "The bag was empty, except for a few clothes." He was also informed that the "agricultural materials" in his bag had been seized and destroyed by Customs. And the 13 flutes he had packed on top of the canes were missing altogether.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection asserted in an email exchange with NPR Music yesterday that there were no instruments involved at all in the agency's actions, "just fresh bamboo seized that were found by CBP agriculture specialists." (U.S. law stipulates that such fresh plants are prohibited from entering the country to deter the spread of plant pathogens.) According to the Customs representative, the only materials seized were "fresh green bamboo canes approximately three to four feet long inside of unclaimed baggage." So what happened to those flutes?

A spokesperson for American Airlines said yesterday evening that the carrier had been unaware of this incident until we contacted them, but noted that once baggage is unloaded, responsibility for them passes over to Customs. Razgui says that he has not tried to contact American Airlines himself since they delivered the bag, as he had believed that Customs had destroyed his instruments along with the bamboo canes.

After a day spent talking to international press, an anguished Razgui says that now he doesn't know what to make of the whole situation. "Maybe someone took the flutes," he says. "I really don't know what's going on." In the meantime, though, he's been missing gigs — and has borrowed a cheap ney from one of his students.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/01/02/259168342/destroyed-by-customs-or-stolen-whatever-happened-flutes-are-gone

[MineralMan]

14. This story is more complex than it seemed, and

several media outlets seem to have jumped on it before all the information was in.

The Neys and other flutes are made of Arundo donax, not bamboo. If there was un-dried arundo canes in the luggage, Customs was right to destroy them. Arundo donax is an invasive weed in the United State, and states like California are overgrown with the plant. As an oboist, I made hundreds of reeds from this material, which was imported into the US in dried, semi-finished state. I also made some from wild-growing cane from a local riverbed in California, as an experiment.

The finished flutes, however, are clearly musical instruments, made of properly dried Arundo donax, and do not fall into the same category. It sounds, now, as though the green cane was destroyed, and the case of finished instruments has been misplaced or is missing for other reasons. That makes sense to me, where the destruction of the instruments does not. The Customs agents would easily recognize that they were musical instruments. They see instruments all the time, and a ney is recognizable as not being an agricultural product.

My guess is that the musician's case of 13 flutes will eventually turn up and be returned to him. Personally, I would never check any instruments I used as luggage. I don't check anything I must have at my destination as luggage. That was a mistake. I hope they are found and returned to him.

[frazzled]

15. I love oboists!

Or rather, I should say, I love oboes.

Our CSO principal oboe is top notch, and I always take special pains to listen to him in the orchestra.

[jberryhill]

21. An ill woodwind that no one blows good

[yuiyoshida]

19. one of the flutes..

[Drew Richards]

22. Oh no its reallyt happening they are rounding up the pan flute bands wheres Clive!

Joke aside this really sucks sorry for your loss.