Customs officer discovers fuel tank sending unit had been tampered with - WTF?

[BB Rodriguez]

In this story about a drug bust on the border, "customs officers discovered that the gas tank sending unit located under the rear seat of her vehicle had been tampered with, police said."

WTF? Are they taking out seats at random now?

[Ferret Herder]

My husband reports that years ago, his dad (my FIL) had his seats practically taken out of his car after being a dick to customs officials at the Canada-US border (I forget which side). I'm assuming they were hoping to find something, or at least to piss him off by holding him up for a couple hours, rather than expecting to find something. It would not surprise me in the least if some cars crossing the US-Mexico border were getting a serious inspection like that.

[jali]

There was a scene in the film, The French Connection, where a guy makes a joke about drugs in his car. The next scene: totally dismantled car, sad family.

[danceswithcats]

It's a good hiding spot, which requires minimal disturbance of the vehicle. As always, it's a cat and mouse game.

[Santo Rugger]

At the boarder checkpoint north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, there are five or six bays that each have full tool benches that are stocked with tools to dismantle cars. IIRC, each bay has a four point jack they can use to raise the vehicle as if they were in a mechanic's shop. They also have these mirrors mounted on wheels similar to floor jacks they use to look under vehicles. I'm not exactly sure what a gas tank sending unit is, but is it possible "under the rear seat" means it's not inside the vehicle?

[danceswithcats]

<snip> I'm not exactly sure what a gas tank sending unit is, but is it possible "under the rear seat" means it's not inside the vehicle?

Senders are typically located atop the tank, yet tanks can be in many places, although midline to rear is common. Access beneath a rear seat doesn't strike me as odd. One might have to remove an access panel on the vehicle floor pan to get to the sender unit, though.

[sublight]

At the boarder checkpoint north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, there are five or six bays that each have full tool benches that are stocked with tools to dismantle cars.

Do the customs officials then put everything back together, or is that the driver's problem?

I'm asking only half in-jest.

[Dragon]

No they don't.

[BB Rodriguez]

<snip> I'm not exactly sure what a gas tank sending unit is, but is it possible "under the rear seat" means it's not inside the vehicle?

Senders are typically located atop the tank, yet tanks can be in many places, although midline to rear is common. Access beneath a rear seat doesn't strike me as odd. One might have to remove an access panel on the vehicle floor pan to get to the sender unit, though.

That's what I don't get - the sending unit is the fuel pump/float assembly. I can't imagine why anyone would put a hole through anywhere but the top of the tank to mount it. Under the seat isn't uncommon, but like you said, there's usually an access pannel to get to it. Seems like you'd have to be pretty obnoxious or obviously nervous for them to go that far without other evidence.

[Papaw]

You COULD hide contraband in the fuel tank if you were sure it wouldn't be contaminated by the fuel. I bet they had an incident of that recently, and are being thorough.
Remember where Captain America (Peter Fonda ) hid his cash in the move "Easyrider"?

[Clayton_e]

Hey.. another weird story from my town.

The same border crossing I was pulled aside for being 19 and coming back from Canada Day in Ottawa. They thought they'd find pot or at the very least a cooler of beer. Instead they found 3 L of chocolate milk in glass containers from a meat market in downtown Ottawa.. A tradition every year I go is to grab a few for my family. They pulled apart a bunch of things, poked around the seats and pulled up some paneling stuff around the edge of the interior near the door (I was in a room where I could barely see all this going on).

Back then I did actually partake in herbal fun (quit years ago). I had a small amount that was some great stuff from up north, I know, dumb thing to do, but really was a small amount. I was a dumb teenager and been waved through some 10 times in the past. At one point four cops were in the car. They had me sign some documents to state that I was the legal owner of the car, that I didn't have more than 10 grand on me.. etc..etc.. then let me and my friend go. It was in the ashtray. I think they found it, figured it wasn't worth the paperwork and instead decided to make us have heart attacks for fun. They left it where it was.

And yes, they put everything back in the cooler, but left the tops off the milk and left the cooler open and sitting next to the car. I just put it all back in and went on my merry way.. never to do that dumb thing again.