Smuggling and customs fraud: the $CA 3,000 / 3 % FOB threshold and 7–10 years' prison

Under the Customs Fraud and Smuggling Act (Decreto 58-90, art. 6) the act is a crime when the customs value of the goods exceeds the equivalent of three thousand Central American pesos ($CA 3,000) or 3 % of the shipment's total FOB value, whichever is lower; below that threshold it is a tax infraction resolved administratively by SAT (undeclared surplus goods follow the National Customs Act instead). Penalties (art. 7, item a as amended by Decreto 20-2006): principals, seven to ten years' prison; accomplices, two to four; accessories, one to two; public officials or customs agents who are accomplices or accessories receive the principal's penalty. In every case a fine equal to the value of the goods and the cancellation of the business licence are added, on top of customs and ordinary sanctions (art. 9: disqualification as an accessory penalty).

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.