Normally investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, individuals frequently face investigations for export control crime in one of three situations:
- Shipping something illegal — such as the suspected shipping of narcotics or other illegal items.
- Shipping without a proper permit — as when happens if a person ships an item, like alcohol or firearms, without the proper authorization from the government.
- Shipping to prohibited country. The US government has prohibited US citizens and businesses from shipping items to different countries for a variety of reasons.