It&#x27;s important to note that the &quot;bags&quot; are only exempt from <i>legal</i> search and seizure at e.g. customs or by police. If they&#x27;re not equipped with effective tamper-evident seals and&#x2F;or escorted by a trustworthy courier at all times then they can (and probably will) be intercepted. It&#x27;s tough to gain access to the small ones, but a shipping container is much harder to keep under watch at all times. It only matters if you get caught with your hands in the cookie jar after all.<p>I&#x27;d guess the typewriters weren&#x27;t shipped in tamper-proof containers and were simply altered en route. I once read a story that I can&#x27;t find again about the CIA intercepting a shipment of (what I think were fighter planes?) and disassembling them overnight, then putting them back together to be on the train again the next morning. It was a great story, I wish I could find it again.