If you do that I am sure the crook will change his mind and wave you through. He wouldn't want his supervisor coming over to see what the fuss is all about. Unless of course the supervisor is in it too.
in such countries, the supervisor, his boss, and his boss's boss will be in it too.
this happened to me and my friends at bali. we went there for diving, and had our camera housings and other gadgets packed into pelican cases. my friend was the vain type with lots of stickers plastered all over it. mine was beat up and frankly looks abused.
when we collected it from the luggage belt, we noticed a chalk mark on my friend's case, but not on mine. as we cleared customs, i was waved through without a 2nd glance, but my friend was asked to open his up for inspection. when he opened it up, all the customs officers crowded around (and you know how many there are in those countries...the more the merrier) like it was some show.
they asked my friend for tax invoices for the equipment etc, because they said it was more than a certain amount - "very expensive" they said. so they will want a US$1000 deposit refundable when we leave the country.
we all knew this was BS and there's no way we will see the money again. so we started bargaining. we got stuck at US$300, then my friend lost his patience and demanded to see the supervisor. the officer he was talking to grinned very widely and said "aku lah!"
palm, meet face. hahahaha. in the end, we told them we only had traveller's cheques and $120USD with his. showed some wallets and travellers cheques and so we got off with a small inconvenience. demanded an official receipt, and got a scrap of paper with his signature and an office chop on it. hahaha
halfway thru, the officers stopped another traveller, and we saw that he also had a chalk mark on his bag. so same charade all over again.
so now we travel with wet tissues to wipe off any marks, and keep a look out for tampering. we put cable tie on our openings so we know if anything has been opened. if you bag has a large zip all around, don't waste your time locking it. i can open the bag with a ballpoint pen, take everything out, and close it back without even touching the lock.
so now i travel with luggage that looks as if even the garang guni doesnt want it. my camera housings, ports and strobes are in a dirty trolley bag that i hand-carry like one of those aunties, except it weighs 20kg! haha