contraban

n. [ It. contrabando; contra + bando ban, proclamation: cf. F. contrebande. See Ban an edict. ] 1. Illegal or prohibited traffic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Persons the most bound in duty to prevent contraband, and the most interested in the seizures. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Goods or merchandise the importation or exportation of which is forbidden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A negro slave, during the Civil War, escaped to, or was brought within, the Union lines. Such slave was considered contraband of war. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Contraband of war, that which, according to international law, cannot be supplied to a hostile belligerent except at the risk of seizure and condemnation by the aggrieved belligerent. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]