the.com/contraband
the stuff borders pretend to stop and economies quietly run on
means Goods that are illegal to import, export, or possess — smuggled merchandise moving against the law.
from From Italian 'contrabbando,' literally 'against the proclamation' — 'contra' (against) plus 'bando' (a ban or public decree), the same 'bando' that gives us 'bandit' and 'banish.' The word traveled through Spanish and French before settling into English in the early 1500s, always carrying that flavor of the official edict and the merchant cheerfully ignoring it.
- origin
- From Italian contrabbando, meaning against the proclamation
- civil war
- Escaped enslaved people were labeled contraband of war
- sniffer dogs
- Trained to smell cash, drugs, even cancer
- prison economy
- Smuggled phones run entire underground markets inside walls
- space rule
- Astronauts can't bring unapproved items to orbit
for instance
operation fast and furious — atf smuggled 2,000+ firearms into mexico 2009-2011 to track cartels
golden triangle drug route — myanmar-laos-thailand border region produces 70% of world's illicit opium