Internet purchases via Miami-based courier companies have been delayed over the last month as the Customs Department is checking all the packages and insisting on receipts for each one. Thousands of customers are complaining that their purchases have been stuck in Miami for several weeks and the couriers are saying that the reason is that Customs are asking for receipts for each and every package. Across social media many clients have complained of the delays.
Customs director general, Fernando Fernandez, said that they had to take measures to prevent fraud as, according to the couriers, 80% of purchases were only worth between US$10 and US$12. He went on to say that the courier companies did not want Customs to check that their figures were correct and that there were two companies who had been fined RD$22 million for not declaring the correct amounts.