Bolivia

Under Bolivian law carrying any amount of an illegal drug is considered drug trafficking, the minimum sentence is 8 years, and every passenger on a departing international flight has their hold and hand baggage — and their person — searched.

Minimum sentence 8 years; carrying any quantity is treated as trafficking.

Cannabis is illegal in Bolivia and carrying any amount can be prosecuted as drug trafficking, which carries 10 to 25 years in prison - Ley 1008 defines trafficking to include simply possessing a controlled substance. There is no legal personal-use quantity you can rely on: the minimum amount is determined by two state-appointed specialists only after an arrest, and a foreigner without permanent residence caught in possession faces expulsion under the residence law plus a fine. Every passenger on a departing international flight is searched by the police narcotics division with sniffer dogs, and pre-trial detention often runs well past the 24- and 48-hour limits set on paper.

Trafficking, which by statutory definition includes intentional possession: 10 to 25 years imprisonment plus a fine of 10,000 to 20,000 days (Ley 1008 art. 48). Transporting any quantity: 8 to 12 years plus permanent seizure of the vehicle (art. 55). Supplying, whatever the amount: 8 to 12 years (art. 51). Cultivating controlled plants: 1 to 2 years, or 2 to 4 on reoffending (art. 46). Foreigners without permanent residence caught in possession face expulsion under the residence law plus a fine of 500 to 1,000 days (art. 49).

The US State Department lists Bolivia's currency restrictions as USD 50,000 entering and USD 20,000 leaving; confirm current declaration requirements with Bolivian customs before you travel.

Exporting protected species/products without a permit violates Bolivian and US law.

Many Bolivian souvenirs made from wild plants or animals - leather, crafts, even live animals - come from protected species whose export is illegal and can be seized, and bringing them into the U.S. also breaks U.S. law.

Goods seized; possible U.S. prosecution.

To drive in Bolivia you must have both a 1949-version International Driving Permit and your home licence with you in the car, and recurring fuel shortages plus protest roadblocks can strand drivers for days.

Leaving the scene of an accident is illegal. Note that police cannot stop or search you on the street without a written order from a state prosecutor — criminals impersonate officers.

Same-sex sexual activity is not illegal in Bolivia, though same-sex relationships are frowned on by many Bolivians — more so in the Altiplano than in Santa Cruz, where attitudes tend to be more liberal.