GENERAL DISPOSITION. (SECTION 2 TITLE 1 OF THE CUSTOMS CODE).
ARTICLE 112. – The customs service shall exercise control over persons and merchandise, including that which constitutes means of transport, insofar as they are related to the international traffic of goods.
ARTICLE 113. – The intensity of the attributions of control depends on the area where it is to be exercised, with the exceptions provided in this Title.
ARTICLE 114. – For the fulfillment of its control functions, the customs service will adopt the measures that are most convenient according to the circumstances, such as the verification of the merchandise in any area in which it is found, the imposition of security elements like shut down, used in customs for their control, Seals and the establishment of custodies.
ARTICLE 115. The national State, the provinces, the municipalities and their respective centralized and decentralized offices are subject to the same control standards as other persons, unless otherwise specified.
ARTICLE 116. – The entry and exit of persons to the customs territory, as well as the importation and exportation of merchandise, must be made at the hours, by the routes and by the places that are qualified to the affection, with prior authorization of the customs service.
ARTICLE 117. – The persecution of persons suspected of having committed an offense under this code, as well as that of merchandise presumably object or means for the commission of such illicit acts, whatever the zone in which it is initiated, Must be to continue even in the free sea and its airspace, without recognizing other limits than those corresponding to the sovereignty of other States.
ARTICLE 118. – In the case provided for in Article 117, the control powers shall be increased by the passage from one zone to another when those corresponding to the latter are greater. If it is a question of the free sea or if for the new zone there are minor attributions, there will remain those of the previous zones.
ARTICLE 119. – Whatever the area in question, agents of the customs service and, within the scope of their respective competencies, those of the security and police forces may proceed to the identification and registration of persons and merchandise, including means of transportation, when they suspect the commission of any customs illicit, as well as apprehend, hijack or interdict the merchandise in question by making it available to the competent authority within forty-eight (48) hours.
ARTICLE 120. – When the unlawfulness could constitute a crime of smuggling, its attempt or cover-up, agents of the customs service and those of the security and police forces shall detain those responsible, irrespective of the area in which they are found and give notice Immediately to the competent judicial authority, making them available to them within forty-eight (48) hours. To such effect, when said officials are in pursuit of persons who have committed such crimes, they may search and register the domicile, residence or place in which those persons have been introduced, without the need for prior judicial authorization.
