A C206 PLT IS REPRIMANDED AND TOLD OF BEING FINED FOR ALLEGEDLY NOT NOTIFYING CUSTOMS 1 HR PRIOR TO ARR AT TMB; FL.

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ON JUL/FRI/04 APPROX XA00; I CALLED FSS TO FILE AN INTL FLT FROM TAMIAMI ARPT TO BIMMINI; BAHAMAS. AT THE SAME TIME I ALSO FILED THE FLT FROM BIMMINI TO TAMIAMI ARPT. AT THE TIME OF FILING; I REQUESTED FSS; IN MY REMARKS; TO NOTIFY CUSTOMS OF MY ARR AT TAMIAMI ARPT. I ASKED FSS TO NOTIFY CUSTOMS BECAUSE AT THE TIME OF MY DEP CUSTOMS WAS CLOSED. BEFORE I TOOK OFF FROM BIMMINI; I CALLED CUSTOMS TO VERIFY MY NAME WAS IN THE ARR LIST BUT NO ONE ANSWERED THE PHONE AT APPROX XA05. DUE TO THE FACT THAT INCLEMENT WX WAS APCHING BIMMINI; AND CONFIDENT THAT I HAD ASKED FSS TO NOTIFY CUSTOMS OF MY ARR; I DEPARTED BIMMINI TO TAMIAMI ARPT. ONCE I WAS AIRBORNE; I GOT IN CONTACT WITH MIAMI RADIO ON FREQ 126.7. I ACTIVATED MY FLT PLAN AND VERIFIED WITH MIAMI RADIO THAT CUSTOMS HAD BEEN NOTIFIED OF MY ARR; AND THAT MY ARR WAS IN THE COMPUTER SYS OF CUSTOMS. WHEN I ARRIVED AT TAMIAMI ARPT; A CUSTOMS OFFICER TOLD ME THAT I WAS ARRIVING AT CUSTOMS WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION. I PROCEEDED TO EXPLAIN TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER THE STEPS I HAD TAKEN TO NOTIFY CUSTOMS (AS DESCRIBED ABOVE) AND ALSO EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT; ON MY WAY TO TAMIAMI ARPT; I HAD CONTACTED MIAMI RADIO FREQ 126.7 AND THAT THEY ASSURED ME THAT CUSTOMS HAD BEEN NOTIFIED. THE CUSTOMS OFFICER THEN PROCEEDED TO INFORM ME IN A VERY RUDE MANNER THAT 'IT WAS VERY HARD TO BELIEVE WHAT I WAS TELLING HIM.' I THEN CALLED FSS WITH MY CELLULAR PHONE AND EXPLAINED THE SIT. FSS TOLD ME ONCE AGAIN THAT MY TAIL NUMBER WAS IN THE COMPUTER SYS OF CUSTOMS. I RELATED THIS INFO TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER AND HE REPEATED TO ME THAT IT WAS NOT IN THE COMPUTER. AT THAT TIME; FSS ASKED ME TO PUT THE CUSTOMS OFFICER ON THE PHONE; WHICH I DID; AND SPOKE TO HIM. AFTER FSS SPOKE TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER; THE OFFICER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT MY ARR WAS IN THE COMPUTER AND STATED THAT HE 'DID NOT CARE BECAUSE THE PLT HAD TO CALL CUSTOMS PERSONALLY.' THE OFFICER THEN PROCEEDED TO INFORM ME THAT HE WAS GOING TO ISSUE ME A WARNING. I TOLD HIM THAT I DID NOT THINK THAT WAS FAIR BECAUSE I HAD FOLLOWED ALL NOTIFICATION PROCS APPROPRIATELY. HE THEN GAVE ME A WARNING; WHICH I SIGNED. AFTER HAVING SIGNED THE WARNING; THE OFFICER ASKED ME FOR A COPY OF MY PLT'S LICENSE AND PASSPORT AND WENT TO THE BACK OFFICE AND MADE A COPY OF MY DOCUMENTS. THE OFFICER THEN TOLD ME THAT I COULD LEAVE BUT THAT I HAD TO BE BACK IN 1 HR BECAUSE HIS SUPVR WANTED TO SPEAK TO ME. I PROCEEDED TO TAKE THE AIRPLANE TO THE RAMP AND APPROX 45 MINS LATER THEY CALLED ME AND I WENT BACK TO CUSTOMS. THE SUPVR ASKED ME WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND I RELATED EVERYTHING AS IT OCCURRED. THE SUPVR TOLD ME THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO GIVE A WARNING BUT THAT HE WAS GOING TO GIVE ME A $5000.00 FINE INSTEAD WHICH I WOULD RECEIVE BY MAIL. AFTER THAT; HE HANDED ME A PAPER (ATTACHED) AND STATED THAT IF CUSTOMS WAS CLOSED AT THE TIME OF MY DEP; I COULD HAVE CALLED AN AFTER HRS NUMBER. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT I WAS NOT AWARE THAT THERE WAS AN AFTER HRS NUMBER AND THAT I HAD NEVER BEEN GIVEN THIS NUMBER BEFORE. AS IT IS CLRLY DESCRIBED IN THE PAPER GIVEN TO ME BY SUPVR; I FOLLOWED NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AS STATED IN ITEM #2. I STRONGLY BELIEVE THIS SIT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF CUSTOMS HAD MADE THIS INFO MORE READILY AVAILABLE TO PLTS. ALSO; IN EVERY SAFETY MEETING I ATTEND; I HAVE REQUESTED AN INFORMATIONAL MEETING WITH CUSTOMS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO REVIEW ALL THE NEW REGS AND PROCS FOR INTL FLTS. I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IF THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION IN ORDER TO AVOID THIS TYPE OF SIT IN THE FUTURE.