[seanccox]

You may consider trying this with Turkey, as well. Informally, friends and family do this kind of thing pretty regularly, and it was also common practice among colleagues at my company's Istanbul office.

Though it obviously doesn't offer the protections of a more formal arrangement, there is a Facebook group now to support connecting people – https://www.facebook.com/groups/417504741672236/

[amazon_not]

Is Turkey any more lenient on smugglers than Ghana or Nigeria?

[seanccox]

I really don't know, but I understood that this business wasn't about smuggling, just transporting expensive or difficult-to-get items. Smuggling implies contraband, which by its nature is probably something tourists and travelers won't dabble with, so if the business model is built around smuggling, then I imagine it is dangerous anywhere.

[DanBC]

> Smuggling implies contraband

Smuggling to me implies stuff that people haven't paid tax on. Not just stuff that's illegal to own.

Here's a radio programme using court records from the 18th Century to explore history. This episode is about smuggling.

> Smuggling was a trade in the 18th century - sprawling from the brutal criminal underworld, to shops, to chic drawing rooms - brandy, tobacco, pepper, lace, French silks. But one commodity above all was worth killing for and facing the noose - tea.

> In fact two thirds of the tea which was drunk in Britain was smuggled in along the Southern coastline of Britain. Every single inhabitant of coastal ports like Rye would have known what was going on, probably most were drawn into it - and many ended up in the Old Bailey in London.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d4sbs

[seanccox]

I really have no idea... IANAL. I merely wanted to suggest that the founders could look at something similar in Turkey, where the business model they are implementing is being accomplished via an informal channel on Facebook. I leave it up to them to figure out the details and identify the possible consequences for their clients. In 10 years of travel between into and out of Turkey, I never once had my bag checked on arrival, so I don't really consider their customs process to be rigorous.