CBP Seizes $12K at Baltimore Washington International Airport

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on
A picture of a CBP officer watching travelers at an airport. CBP Officers at Philadelphia International Airport seized $26,000 from a couple going to Greece for a failure to report the cash

CBP issued a news release about the seizure of little more than $12,000 from a woman traveling from a woman traveling from the UK to the USA who did not report the currency at Baltimore Washington International Airport.

Is it a big deal? Yes, any violation of the law is a big deal and carries with a potential for criminal prosecution, heavy fines, jail time, forfeiture (loss) of the money, along with shame, embarrassment, and everything else.

But is such a big deal that should make headlines? I don’t think so. These kind of cash seizures happen all the time all around the country at airports and land border crossings between the United States and Canada. There’s a lot more noteworthy seizures and even more noteworthy cash seizures that CBP could make public, but does not. Why? I have no idea.

The only purpose I see in reporting a relatively small violation of the reporting requirement — where the violator was not criminally charged and was even advised to file a petition — is that it serves some public good in making it known to others that they need to report cash if carrying more than $10,000 into or out of the United States.

Without further ado, here is the meat of the story from CBP:

BALTIMORE — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO), at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport seized $12,322 Tuesday from a Nigerian woman for violating federal currency reporting regulations.

A woman, who arrived on a flight from the United Kingdom reported carrying $9,000 to CBP officers however; multiple envelopes of currency totaling $12,322 was discovered in her luggage. CBP officers seized the $12,322 returning $322 for humanitarian release and advised her how to petition for the return of the currency.

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