From teh US customs website
While U.S. Customs is mandated with broad enforcement and investigative authorities, that is not necessarily true of our counterparts. Thus, we rely on various foreign law enforcement agencies for cooperation in carrying out our mission. And, although collaboration and support from the foreign governments are generally good, several countries place severe restrictions on what we can do because of sovereignty concerns. Add to that language and cultural differences, and our ability to work on such sensitive matters as textile transshipment or child labor abuses is at times challenging.
However, we remind ourselves that we have a very important mission to accomplish. We use our professionalism, personal skills, and diplomacy to face these challenges and to cultivate a close and cooperative working relationship with our foreign enforcement counterparts.
Despite these obstacles, for FY 2000, the Customs Attaché in Bangkok has served 16 search warrants; cooperated in 9 Thailand seizures; affected 4,325 domestic seizures; responded to 83 collateral investigations; initiated 26 investigations; 2 special operations and 2 extraditions; provided intelligence; and supported training in 4 countries