I was charged 45% for bringing a quadcopter into the Bahamas

I went through customs in the Bahamas this afternoon with a bunch of photography and SCUBA diving equipment. Customs officials see underwater cameras all the time and don’t really care about them. But when I opened the case with my DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ in it, the official’s eyes lit up (they didn’t—he had a good poker face—but I imagined that they did). He said that I would have to pay duty on it. The cameras I brought in were fine, but because “it can fly,” I would have to pay 45%.

“How much does it cost?” He asked.

I replied, “Um, about $1,000.”

After thinking about it for awhile, I said, “It’s not new, though, so the value is really more like $600.”

The official thought about it for about 15 seconds. “No… no. I can’t do $600.”

Me: “So how much can you do?”

Him: “Maybe $800. Some of these are as much as $1200.”

Me: “But not this one. It’s used. So… I have to pay 45% of 800?”

Him: “Yes. After you pay 45%, you can do anything you want with it. You can sell it.”

Me: “But I’m going to take it home with me after my trip, here. Do I get a refund?”

Official: (would not give me a clear answer)

I asked what my options were. He said I could do one of three things:

1. Pay 45% of $800 and take the quadcopter into the country. “You can do anything you want with it after you pay. You can even sell it.”
2. Register it with customs, which would “take some time.” There were no details about this option. He made it seem daunting, and was vague.
3. Leave it with him and reclaim it on my way out of the country.

I paid. He gave me a $100 discount off of the $800 value “for [my] passport,” whatever that means, and ended up charging $315.00 to my credit card. I’m hoping I can get that refunded on my way out of the country, but I’m not counting on it.

Haggling about duty, at Bahamian customs? Seems pretty shady…