As harsh as it sounds customs have a job to do
I know that this will be little consolation to those who have had items destroyed by customs. I can only suggest that they file a complaint with customs and see if they can claim compensation.
Sadly toys are used to smuggle drugs
so a toy with a high value on the customs form is going to get looked at, especially if it is going to or from a "hot spot". I know people have had issues with items being shipped out of Greece (remember the MOC blue firefly that got opened?) and some other countries as well.
We all know the thickness of the plastic varies on a pony and round the hooves tends to be thick. This could appear to a customs official looking at an x-ray that the pony has something in hooves. Also sometimes you get gloopy dribbles inside ponies from the manufacture, this too could look like something dodgy to a customs official.
Smuggles have also been known to combine the drugs into the very fabrics and materials of items and customs will cut them to run a drugs test. Sadly the tests for drugs are often destructive as they involve cutting away part of the material of the item to be tests.
Dogs noses can be fooled! A few years ago at the large international airport near where I live there was a controlled explosion of a crate of mangos. It turns out over ripe/slightly off mangos have the same smell as some plastic explosives!
(this is the closet thing to tropical!)
Love pkw xxx