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"US Customs Service
22685 Holiday Park Drive, Suite 15
Sterling, VA 20166


Dear Mr. XXXXXX:

This is your official notification that on April 28, 2003, Inspectors of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection seized 14.7 grams of Alprazolam found in a parcel addressed to you at the Dulles International Mail Facitlity. The items have an estimated appraised value of $6.00. The substances were being imported in violation of Title 19, United States Code (USC), section 1497 "Penalties for Failure to Decalre," Title 21 USC, section 953, "Importation of Controlled Substances," Title 19 USC, section 1595(a) "Merchandise Introduced Contrary to Law," 18 United States Code, section 545 "Smuggling" and Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, part 1312, "Importation and Exportation of Controlled Substances."

This notice also serves as an official notification that administrative forfeiture proceedings shall be instituted against the seized merchandise. Please be advised that the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection will advertise the substances by posting a "Notice of seizure and Intent to Forfeit" at the Port of Washingtond, D.C. The first noticed will be published on or about Monday, June 02, 2003.

Under provisions of Title 19, USC, section 1618, you have the right to petition for administrative relief from forfeiture of the seized drugs. Your petition must include a copy of the approved DEA form 236 you filed prior to importation of your shipment. Please be aware that the submussion of a prescription will not grant release of these drugs. You must file your petition with this office within 30 days from the date of this letter, or your merchandise will be forfeited to the U.S. Government and destroyed in accordance with the law. If you fail to respond to this notice within the 30-day period, the controlled substances will be forfeited to the United States Government and the case will be considered close.

The enclosed notice of Seizure and Information for Clamaints explains your options for remission of the forfeiture. Ifyou choose to petition for relief from forfeiture, you must complete and submit the enclosed Election of Proceedings form along with your petition. This submission will defer the judicial or administrativve proceedings until completion of the administrative process.

To advoid any future violations, your doctor or pharmacist must comply with the Drug Enforcemnt Administration requirement. All controlled substances imported should be registered abd the appropriaete import declaration, DEA form 236, is filed with DE not less than 15 days before importation. Ordinary citizens are not permitted to import scheduled drugs. However, if you think you may be eligibke please request and file all applications with the DEA, International Drug unit, Washington, D.C. 20537.

All petitions should be filed in duplicate and forwared to Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Port Case Numbers, Fines, Penalties, and Fofeitures Office, P.O. Box 17423, Washington, D.C. 20041. If you have any questions contact xxx at (703) 318 - 5900 ext. xxx

Sincerly,
Name Removed
Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officer
Port of Washington, D.C"

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EXHIBIT 9-3

Model Letter for Use in General Mail Importations

(LETTERHEAD)

A mail shipment of an article from a foreign country addressed to you is being detained at the U.S. Post Office. All products of this kind must meet the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or other laws enforced by the Food and Drug Administration. These laws are designed to protect you from, among other things, unsafe or misrepresented foods, drugs, biologics, cosmetics, devices, and other articles. The product addressed to you does not appear to comply with the law.

Please read the enclosed Notice of Detention and Hearing carefully since it explains why FDA believes that the product sent to you is in violation. The Notice does not in any manner accuse you of violating any law.

If you have good reason to believe that the product does comply with the law and wish to discuss it with us, you may personally come to this office, telephone, or write to us within the time limit shown on the Notice.

If you do not wish to claim this shipment, you may disregard the Notice and the shipment will be returned to the sender without cost to you. The shipment will be returned to the sender automatically if we do not hear from you within the time limit shown on the Notice.

Sincerely yours,

Enclosure:

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EXHIBIT 9-4

Model Letter for Use in Detentions of Drugs and Devices

(LETTERHEAD)

A mail shipment addressed to you of a drug (device) from a foreign country is being detained at the U.S. Post Office. All products of this kind must meet the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which is designed to protect you from products that have not been shown to be safe and effective and that are not labeled in a truthful, accurate and non-misleading manner.

Please read the enclosed Notice of Detention and Hearing carefully, since it explains why the product addressed to you appears to violate U.S. law. The Notice does not accuse you in any manner of violating any law.

If the drug is not approved for distribution in the United States, FDA may consider releasing the product to you for your own personal use if you provide a statement containing:

adequate documentation that the product is for your own use and for treatment of a serious condition, and include the name and address of the doctor licensed to practice in the United States who is responsible for your treatment with this product; or
adequate documentation that the product is for the continuation of treatment of a serious condition begun in a foreign country.
Send your statement to this office and we will promptly review your submission and consider release of the product.

If you have good reason to believe that the product does comply with the law and you wish to discuss it with us, you may come in person to this office, telephone, or write to us within the time limit shown on the Notice.

If you do not wish to claim this shipment, you may disregard the Notice and the shipment will be returned to the sender without cost to you. The shipment will be returned to the sender automatically if we do not hear from you within the time limit shown on the Notice.

Sincerely yours,

Enclosure:

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What should you do if you receive a letter from Customs?

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What I have received is entirely different, But I think They are printed in Cebu City!

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Nice one - I wondered about that also, but after the 2nd LL I got, I received a package from Cebu City that had NOT been tampered with.

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I just received a LL, in fact, it's sitting right beside me as I type this. Interestingly, I've received one of the packages, but the other (containing the exact same thing) was confiscated. It makes me wonder, just HOW do they know if it's a controlled substance in the envelope rather than a letter from Uncle JoeBob?

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You are proof that they don't know ... since one did and one didn't. It must be random.

I'm interested in the LL, from the other poster, that came from Seattle instead of San Fran. So San Fran isn't the only westcoast customs? Has anyone else received from any iop where it came through Seattle? Would love to know Thanks for any info.