Smugglers with Bags of Holding

[Wolfspirit]

This may have come up, but in a magic using world, what would governments do to stop smugglers from using Bags of Holding or other extra-dimensional spaces in order to transport illegal cargoes? From my reading of the spell, Locate Object doesn't seem to be able to detect specific kinds of magic items, so that wouldn't help.

If you think that the cost of such an item would be prohibitive of using them to smuggle, imagine if the drug cartels got their hands on a few in real life. Drug dogs couldn't smell them, no need for bulky airplanes, and you could bring a LOT at one time.

I'm currently running a campaign set in a major port city (Waterdeep actually), so any thoughts on the mater could be useful to me

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Hehe, that's a good idea! I should have thought of it. I'm playing a Rogue2/Sorcerer1 right right now that has aspirations of becoming some sort of mob-type. He his currently in the early stages of setting up a smuggling operation of his own...

Consider your idea borrowed!!

But seriously, I can't think of any holes right off the top of my head except that custom types would/should have some sort of magic detection that would cause the bag to radiate an aura. That would then raise eyebrows and probably lead to a search. There are ways around that however...

 

[StoneAxe]

The guard has an elite team of agents who go undercover to watch the various organizations that operate in the city. Small scale operations are allowed to go unhindered. When significant taxes are avoided or dangerous items moved. The city auditors and guard make surprise inspections of the warehouses.

When cargo enters the city via the gates or docks an Arcane Mark is placed on it to signify that the tariffs have been paid.

 

[Altalazar]

Forget the bag of holding, when you can just teleport in goods.

Simply put, the rules are different in a fantasy world.

It depends on how common bags of holding and teleport are, and it also depends on total volume of goods.

If a city has fifteen million tons of goods coming in and out each day, a few teleports and bags of holding representing a few thousand pounds doesn't amount to much.

And perhaps it is cheaper to pay the tariffs than pay for magic to smuggle the goods.

To a certain degree, it is shaped by the free market. If taxes are ridiculously high or something in demand is banned outright that could be profitable, the market will find a way to get it in, sometimes with ridiculous costs, but it will find a way. Look at the drug war.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Interesting idea but easily countered with large rewards for turning in smugglers, even larger if they employee magical means.

If you set up laws to make items illegal you will also have set up laws to make it a greater crime by using items and spells. Sample of this would be smuggling would be loss of good and two years on a work crew but using a bag on holding while smuggling could be loss of goods, hand, and 10 years on work crew.

 

[Altalazar]

It is all a question of economics. If the money you can make smuggling exceeds by far the rewards offered, then it is a small matter to simply bribe those who could report you more than they'd get for a reward.

If the reward is ridiculously high, well, then one has to wonder where the authorities get such large sums of money to throw around?

There is always a way. Forget the bag of holding. Bring it in out in the open and just bribe the guards. Meanwhile, while the authorities chase around people with suspicious looking bags with magical auras, the goods flow right on in under their noses.

In terms of smuggling, the smugglers will ALWAYS have the upper hand. Borders are large and you can't watch every possible means of entry, and even when you do, the watchers are corruptible.

 

[Zappo]

To fool guards, you could hire a team of wizards to cast Nystul's Magical Aura on random people's bags.

 

[Altalazar]

Yes, exactly. That was sort of what I was getting at with the wild goose chase example.

 

[Fade]

Bag of Holding - 5000gp
Amulet of Nystul's Undetectable Aura - 2000gp
500lbs of (illegal drug of the week) - priceless

 

[Wolfspirit]

Hmmm, any thoughts on what a spell for "Detect Extradimensional Space" would be like?