CBP officers in Detroit had their own version of March madness, when they seized around $370,000 total in cash from travelers at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and another $100,000 at the Ambassador Bridge that connects the US & Canada (these figures are according to CBP’s really awesome currency seizure dashboard). I was away from X/Twitter for a while but checked back in when I learned a new Director of Field Operations was appointed for the Detroit Field Office at CBP. Lo, and behold, there was lot of publicized seizure activity for March. A bonus was the high-res images images of the se ..read more

Texas CBP officers seized $124,000 in Eagle Pass, Texas, on March 20, when a Mexican national traveled with $124,052, apparently hidden in his vehicle. Although no details are given about how the money was hidden, it is probably a case of classic bulk cash smuggling (watch an explanation of bulk cash smuggling). Here’s CBP’s summary of the incident: EAGLE PASS, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Eagle Pass Port of Entry recently seized over $124,000 in unreported currency hidden within a vehicle during an outbound examination. “This seizure reflects the vigilant inspectiona ..read more

Another day, another customs money seizure. This one in particular happened to the U.S.-Mexico border in Pharr, Texas, and actually involved an arrest. CBP officers can arrest anyone for the not reporting, structuring, or smuggling cash, but most often, they do not. The cash reporting requirement laws in Title 31 of the U.S. Code allow for CBP to choose whether to proceed as a civil matter or criminal matter. For the unlucky 19 year old fellow involved in the what seems to be a bulk cash smuggling offense, he was arrested. There are no specifics on how the money was hidden within the vehicle ..read more

The first few weeks of February 2024 saw a lot of cash seizure activity for CBP at Dulles airport, which is basically the norm. Most of the stories publicized by CBP as money seizures from your ordinary traveler (and not your US-Mexico drug/cash smuggling travelers) is coming out of Dulles airport, very near to Washington DC. In the summary of cash seizure activity, there were a total of 6 cash seizures running from February 7 to February 24 and the total amount seized was $167,257.  The original release is here, with the important parts and my comments below: STERLING, Va. – U.S. Custom ..read more

CBP in San Diego has quite a few ports, including Calexico, Otay Mesa, Cross Border Xpress, San Ysidro, and Tecate. CBP seizes cash from Mexicans and Americans at each of them In early 2024, CBP officers in San Diego seized $20,155 in currency from someone going into Mexico. This kind of money seizure in San Diego are common. I have had numerous clients over the years traveling to Mexico for cosmetic procedures, to purchase real estate, to buy or sell cars at auction, or many other personal or economic reasons, all with money. So in this case, the seizure of $20,155 in unreported currency by C ..read more

Dulles is back in the news again with another cash seizure. In this case, CBP officers aided by a detector dog named “Fuzz,” were searching passengers leaving for Qatar. The dog alerted to a man’s carry-on baggage, and the man initially reported possessing $30,000. CBP then searched and found a total of $42,000. Then, apparently, they searched harder and found another $14,400, for a total of $56,400. Not sure how that happened, but that’s what the story seems to say. Because the first report of $30,000, and the other $26,400 was packed away in luggage, this is probably going to lead to allega ..read more

At Dulles airport, CBP officers at Washington Dulles International Airport recently seized $68,000 cash involving a Nigeria-bound family. The family, departing on a plane for Cairo, Egypt, underwent outbound inspections where CBP officers. The father, when asked, reported $10,000. But then CBP inspected their bags and found additional currency concealed in multiple envelopes, bringing the total to $68,216. My guess is that the envelopes were money they were carrying for other people to their own families in Nigeria. Whenever anyone leans someone is “going back home” they will often give them a ..read more

Last month, CBP officers in Laredo seized $125,000 in bulk cash smuggled out of the USA into Mexico. The story highlights the consequences of failing to report currency amounts exceeding $10,000 and engaging in bulk cash smuggling, both civil and criminal offenses that can result in currency seizure criminal jeopardy. Unless as person is involved in other illegal activity (i.e., drug crimes, money laundering, etc) then it’s unlikely the person will face criminal charges for simply carrying or hiding more than $10,000. Most of our (more than 630) clients over the past 14 years have never faced ..read more

Here’s a Minneapolis CBP cash seizure story from earlier this year that I never had a chance to comment on, but I am overjoyed that it is FINALLY not involving Dulles CBP. I’ve never represented a client with cash seizure case in Minneapolis. From what I remember, I’ve probably only had 2 leads I can remember in the past 14 years where some traveler has had something seized by CBP in Minneapolis. This tells me Minneapolis has a very low rate of cash seizure. The story retold in this news release is common. The traveler reports having only $9,000 even though he had $26,000. If you’re going to ..read more

Summer travel season is well underway, and that means so is CBP’s cash seizure machine is likewise well underway. CBP’s cash seizures, for failure to report cash, structuring, and bulk cash smuggling, all involve people entering leaving the country with more than $10,000, and in one way or another, not filing the FinCEN 105 form at all, or not filing it accurately. The way to report traveling with more than $10,000 is super easy! Among ports of entry, CBP at Dulles airport in Sterling, Virginia (Washington, DC), is among the most prolific storyteller when it comes to highlighting enforcement a ..read more