The Government Wants Your Money

This is a Customs & Border Patrol story from KVOA, involving smugglers and a currency seizure. This is a little different than the usual customs money seizure case we handle or blog about, which is the seizures of money at the airport by customs (you can read our popular page on Responding to a Customs Money Seizure HERE). This story is not for a failure to report while crossing the border or arriving at an airport, but rather, the belief that it was connected to the drug trade and drug smuggling. This gave the officers an independent basis for the seizure, in which case the money does not have to be in excess of $10,000 to trigger seizure. This is the type of civil asset forfeiture our customs law firm does not typically involve ourselves in, but you can find more about why it’s so problematic HERE.

TUCSON – Tucson Sector Border Patrol arrested two undocumented immigrants and seized $10,000 after an agent stopped to assist a driver at State Route 85 near the Ajo area on Thursday, Nov. 6.

The agent offered his assistance after he noticed a vehicle pull over to the side of the highway. He found sugar sacks inside the vehicle, which according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection are used for drug smuggling.

The agent then proceeded to do an inspection of the vehicle and the passengers, where he discovered the currency and the citizen status of the suspects.

The suspects were taken into custody and the vehicle and the $10,000 were processed for seizure.

If you have had cash seized by customs and are contemplating what to do next call our office at (734) 855-4999 to speak to a customs lawyer, or e-mail us through our contact page. We are able to assist with cash seized by customs around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando and many other places, and not just locally in Detroit.

Read these other articles about customs money seizures:

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