HAven't seen them tractor in any stuff. just drop it and beam it back in..or just run..

Blast em and tractor their loot.

We need guns[[[! Big Guns[[[![[[! Big Freaking GUNS[[[![[[![[[!

dont even drop the loot just hit those cruise engines and get your finger over the c button cause your gonna need some countermeasures if your flying a freighter.

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you cant pick your friend's nose."

Han Solo - "What an incredible new smell you've discovered [!"

i think they took whats available..but in my case they did took it and tractoring back before they tractor only makes them fire at you.. believe me I've been there

argh i'm never gonna get paid, Goodbye a million credits

Well yeah, but the idea is to be out of there before they start firing .
Kudos to whoever came up with that trick, btw, it saved me a cargo load of artifacts yesterday:

Police: "Drop the stuff"
Me: "Okay"
(hit cruise and just before reaching 100% hit
Police: "What happened? It was there a minute ago!"
Me: "Heheh, see ya suckers!"

The trick gains you a few extra seconds to get some distance.

What does the Police and Military see as Smuggle and illegal? I havnet found anything that they have stopped me for..
what is contreband? and where can I buy/sell it?

SPQR

Artifacts and Cardamine as far as I know are the only two illegal cargos.
You can check the spoiler forums for the locations where you can find it or download one of the trade computer apps. Don't want to give that away here.

Heres what i do when the police find artifacts or cardimine:

When they say "I'm scanning your cargo" Drop it before they say they've found something, Then when they say you're clean tractor it back in

Nice one! I must try that out tonight.

Sorry folks, you're getting off the topic...

What I want to know if anybody actually SAT there after they dumped
a big load they *knew* the stick-up guy couldn't fit in his ship.

I never dumped my main cargo, though I would dump Bulk cargo (Water, Oxygen)
I looted in fights just to keep my rep neutral. These quantities were small.

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

Okay just tried that (of course when you need them there aren't any cops around).

One of them picks up as much as it can carry and then they just sit there and do nothing. I flew out of tractor range and waited for about 5 minutes but the whole squad was frozen. Finally I zoom by and pick it up: squad goes hostile.
"dammit, cargo is D6 (?), I repeat D6." was their comment.

Yep you are right unless you are near their base where they seem to spawn and get all the goodies. You can tractor back what they can not hold. However they will turn hostile and go guns on you as they want it all (greedy bastards).

I posted this trick a while back but it is worth repeating. When asked to drop cargo "immediately!" hit cruise engine button (remember it takes a few seconds to charge) wait a second for the engines to "warm up" then hit the "Drop Cargo" button and hit "B" just as quick. You will beam back your cargo and be at cruise almost the same second. A word of caution do not use "Go To" as they will fire disruptors and ruin your day. Instead fly at an angle and juke like heck. I even drop a couple of CM's just to make sure if there are a bunch of them.

This trick has saved me money on more than one of my runs for profit and it is funny to hear them say stuff like "What the......it was just here!", Or "My Loot!", there are others but you get my point. Yes you will be red and hot at that base or with that group so if you are trying to change your rep just dump and run.

Also someone mentioned that they just dumped their "bulk" cargo. The screens I have seen are specific in the request of the item to be dropped so that isn't going to work from what I have seen at least in SP.

Just some thoughts from the edge of space.

all the news that no one reads

Hmm, It seems to work for me mosly, that has happend a few times. I think you need to be quite far away from the patrol (Like further than 1.5k) when you drop it.

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WARNING: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF PEANUT

JKN, I think you miss understood what was ment by "Bulk" cargo. Someone I don't remember who had said that when they were asked to drop their cargo they tossed off stuff like O2 or water or other items of less importance. Now unless that is all they had on board I can not believe that even the AI would not demand the higher priced spread. They do scan cargo and so should you!

So far as I can recall and I have done a TON of trade missions. The AI always is very specific about what they want. The demand comes up mid screen and you have a little time to decide before you hear the "have it your way, you just signed your death warrant pal!" AI warning right before they start attacking. Usually it is the highest priced items you have on board or sometimes it is something they can sell quickly at a nearby base but always they tell you what they want.

So that is why I use the Cruise, Drop, Beam, BLOW ME, move as described above! LOL

That move works 99% of the time and saves you some bucks to boot. I am however always keeping an eye out for a better way. I liked the idea of dropping illegal cargo, right before a scan and then rebeam it back right after. I have to try that one it sounds good. I wonder if other ships were around if they would steal your stuff while it is floating in space?

On my runs of less than legal goods. I stick to the outside of the patrol paths and then "hug" the planets atmosphere coming up from the bottom of the planet and timing the jump through the docking ring to be there when no one else is. You don's see many police or military down that low in the radar screen and it saves you a little stress.

Just some thoughts from the edge of space.

all the news that no one reads