YES, I had the very same experience moving from New Jersey. Shipped my 20' container thru the port of La Guiara, took me almost 1 whole year to get it out of "container jail". What they did in actuality was strip the shipline container, put my goods in a "quarantine area" (HA! found out later it was an open warehouse where anyone with security clearance-which at the port is most individuals-who proceeded to rob anything they cut fit in the trunk of any vehicle, under seats (you get the idea). I had a lawyer working with the customs broker, WHO were the ones working in cahoots with the port. YES, it finally took a "propina" (as one individual called it at the broker, I called it a BRIBE) and finally they miraculously released my personal household goods. Trust me, it really did take a better part of a year to get my stuff, and every time I went to the administrative office at the port OR my friendly thieving customs broker there was always a new problem with my paperwork. My paperwork was prepared by a professional foreign freight forwarder in the port of New York/New Jersey. There was NO problem with the paperwork. And the shipline cannot help you at all, as their responsibility ends with the ship discharging at the port of entry. GOOD LUCK, be prepared to spend some bucks and IF YOU CAN when your cargo is released finally ask to see the contents PRIOR to your hiring a truck(s) to transport your stuff out of the pier. You will find things such as DVD players, DVD's, speakers, tools, ANYTHING that can be smuggled out of the port will be gone. Thank God my large screen TV would have been too obvious to steal, along with large furniture. This happened to me about 5 years ago ......... it seems as if it's business as usual here, even with Pres. Chavez supposedly "cleaning house" when he took over of what he called the "crooked customs inspectors", so he replaced them with (I believe) National Guard. LOL
