Probably Stolen crime guide: contraband, heat and hidden storage

What happens when Security finds contraband?

The Mentor’s Note divides contraband into four tiers, with consequences ranging from goods being ignored to immediate arrest and permanent closure. Security reputation also affects punishment. Read the tier before treating a low purchase price as a bargain, because the item can threaten the whole run rather than just its resale margin.

Contraband tier	Consequence described in the Mentor’s Note
Low	Usually ignored unless Security is targeting you
Mid	Confiscated if found during inspection
High	Confiscated, with a fine
Critical	Store permanently closed and player immediately arrested

The same note says discovery of contraband reduces Security reputation. It contains placeholders for increased profit margins, so this guide does not supply unsupported percentages. Use the item and price reference for item identification and base values, not as proof that a deal is safe.

Does stolen-item heat work like contraband tier?

Heat describes how likely Security is to recognize a stolen item during inspection. According to the Mentor’s Note on stolen goods, higher heat also affects the seller’s discount, and heat slowly falls over time. The note does not give an exact decay rate or a guaranteed waiting period before an item becomes safe.

Contraband tier describes an item’s legal risk; heat describes recognition risk for stolen goods. Do not assume a lower heat value cancels contraband status or erases an existing investigation.

Can you hide goods from an inspection?

The Smuggler Bay item descriptions identify disguised storage designed to conceal its contents during inspection. The modified variant provides more storage; the mini variant is smaller. These descriptions establish the intended function, but they do not establish a universal success rate against every officer or every inspection type.

Keep contraband out of the display case. The Mentor’s Note explicitly warns that putting it there leads to arrest. A display case attracts customers; it is not concealed storage.

The inspection note also says officers differ. Some accept bribes and some do not search every container. This does not support a claim that any particular officer can always be bribed or that ordinary containers are safe.

How do inspection warnings, fixers and evidence removal differ?

These services address different problems. Inspection Early Warning gives notice of regular inspections, fixers reduce suspected crime by dealing with evidence Security has not collected, and Evidence Removal targets collected evidence and active investigations. The official descriptions do not make any of these services a blanket exemption from Security action.

Service	Documented effect	Important limit
Inspection Early Warning	Wild’s informant warns about regular inspections while you pay the nightly fee	Does not cover surprise inspections
Wild’s fixers	Reduce suspected crime faster by handling witnesses and uncollected evidence	Description does not say they erase already collected evidence
Evidence Removal	Wild’s contacts destroy collected evidence and interfere with active investigations	Has a cooldown; the extracted text leaves its length as a placeholder

The game also has messages warning that increased criminal activity speeds up an investigation. Hiding stock and dealing with an investigation are separate tasks. Do not treat a successful search as proof that all previous evidence has disappeared.

What should you check before opening the shop?

Check the display case first, then review risky inventory and any inspection or investigation messages. If you rely on a paid service, confirm its status in your current run. The descriptions explain what each service is for; they do not prove that your save has unlocked or activated it.

For a cautious routine:

• Remove contraband from the display case.
• Check contraband tier separately from stolen-item heat.
• Read warnings without assuming the absence of a warning rules out a surprise inspection.
• Distinguish uncollected evidence, collected evidence and inspection risk when choosing a service.

The beginner guide covers the broader shop routine.

For a new run, the starting-scenarios and traits guide also explains Intimidating, which reduces evidence generated by crimes. That effect does not make contraband legal.

Where do these mechanics come from?

This page uses official Mentor’s Notes, item descriptions and network-upgrade descriptions extracted from Demo 049-Rev5-L, Steam build 25382790. It explains documented behavior rather than a tested evasion route. Exact heat decay, service prices, cooldown duration and search probabilities remain outside this guide until verified.