CBP at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport seized nearly $42,000 from travelers heading to Jamaica across three separate incidents in the span of a few days. Here is the full CBP account:
CBP officers seized nearly $41,933 in unreported currency recently from travelers heading to Jamaica at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. On Tuesday, CBP officers seized $15,433 from a Jamaican citizen who attempted to board a flight to Montego Bay. The man reported, both verbally and in writing, that he possessed $7,000. CBP officers discovered $11,566 in his carry-on bag and an additional $3,867 in his checked baggage. CBP officers at BWI earlier seized $13,000 in unreported currency from a mother and daughter as they were boarding a flight to Montego Bay on May 31 and seized $13,500 in unreported currency from a Jamaican man boarding a Montego Bay-bound flight on May 29.
Three Cases in Four Days
Three separate seizures — May 29, May 31, and the Tuesday of the release — all from travelers boarding Montego Bay-bound flights at BWI. The clustering is not coincidental. BWI handles regular direct service to Jamaica, and CBP officers conducting outbound enforcement on Jamaica-bound flights at Baltimore are experienced with this enforcement environment. Like the Ghana-bound flights at Dulles, Jamaica-bound departures at BWI and other East Coast airports are a consistent focus of outbound currency enforcement. Travelers carrying cash to Jamaica for family support, property purchases, or other legitimate purposes are doing nothing wrong — but the FinCEN 105 reporting requirement applies fully, and the enforcement presence on these flights is real.
The First Case: A Verbal and Written Report That Was Still Wrong
The Tuesday seizure — $15,433 from a Jamaican citizen — is the most instructive of the three. The man reported $7,000, both verbally and in writing. He filled out the form. He told the officer. And he still had his money seized, because CBP found $11,566 in his carry-on and another $3,867 in his checked baggage — a total of $15,433, more than double what he declared.
This case illustrates something that trips up travelers repeatedly: filing a FinCEN 105 for the wrong amount is not compliance. The form requires you to report the actual total amount of currency and monetary instruments you are transporting. Reporting $7,000 when you are carrying over $15,000 is a violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5316 — an inaccurate declaration — regardless of the fact that a form was filed. The obligation is accuracy, not just paperwork.
The split between carry-on and checked baggage is also worth noting. Some travelers appear to believe that currency in checked baggage is somehow separate from currency in carry-on — that only what you physically have with you at the checkpoint counts. That is wrong. CBP counts all currency in your possession, in all bags, checked and carried, as a single total. If the combined amount exceeds $10,000, all of it must be reported.
The Mother and Daughter — A Structuring Risk
The May 31 seizure involved a mother and daughter traveling together with $13,000. The release does not detail how the money was distributed between them, but the traveling-together-as-a-family context is exactly the scenario where structuring under 31 U.S.C. § 5324 becomes a risk. CBP treats all members of a traveling group as a single reporting unit. If a mother and daughter are each carrying $6,500 with the understanding that neither individually exceeds $10,000, that is structuring — deliberately splitting currency to evade the reporting requirement — which is a separate federal offense on top of the underlying failure to report. The combined amount is what matters, not each person’s individual share.
What CBP Tells You — and What It Leaves Out
CBP’s release reminds travelers that “the petitioner must prove that the source and intended use of the currency was legitimate.” That is accurate as far as it goes, but it understates what is actually involved in a successful petition. Proving legitimacy requires documentation — bank withdrawal records, tax returns, business records, pay stubs, wire transfer history, purchase agreements, statements from employers or family members. The strength and specificity of that documentation directly affects the outcome. A petition that simply states the money was legitimate without supporting evidence is unlikely to succeed, particularly at an office like Baltimore’s FP&F which handles a high volume of Jamaica-corridor cases and has seen every possible explanation.
Each of these travelers will receive a Notice of Seizure from CBP’s Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures office and will have approximately 30 days to file their election of proceedings. Missing that deadline allows CBP to proceed with administrative forfeiture permanently. Read our guide on why you must not contact CBP without an attorney after a seizure, and see our currency seizure case results for a sense of what successful representation looks like in practice.
Have You Had Cash Seized at BWI?
If CBP at Baltimore Washington International Airport seized your cash, you need a customs lawyer. Read our customs money seizure legal guide or watch the video series, and contact us for a free consultation using the buttons on this page.