The Overstated Cargo

≈ 9 min

Hargreaves & Mott Trading Co. have filed a customs declaration for a mixed-goods consignment arriving on the SS Wellendorf on 14 March 1923. The Customs Examination Office has flagged the declaration for audit after a routine cross-check against the vessel's cargo manifest and warehouse intake records. You are asked to review the six declared line items against the available records and identify which single line contradicts the documentary evidence.

The scene

Port of Calloway, 1923. A customs declaration is filed by an import merchant after a shipment of mixed dry goods arrives from Hamburg.

Source documents

SS Wellendorf Cargo Manifest, Voyage 47, Hamburg to Calloway, March 1923
Brandt Medizinal GmbH Commercial Invoice No. 4419, February 1923
Calloway Bonded Warehouse Intake Register, March 1923
Port Surveyor's Tally Certificate, SS Wellendorf Discharge, 14 March 1923

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