CBP at Washington Dulles International Airport announced three currency seizures totaling $95,397 from travelers departing and arriving on international flights. The full release is available here. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words — so here are two thousand:
Here is what CBP reported:
Three groups of travelers recently learned after CBP officers seized a combined $95,397 in unreported currency at Washington Dulles International Airport. Two groups of travelers were attempting to board departing international flights when CBP officers encountered them. A Lebanon-bound couple surrendered $29,052 to CBP officers on July 21, and a Nepal-bound family surrendered $32,001 to CBP officers on July 26. On July 31, a South Korean family surrendered $34,344 to CBP officers after arriving on a flight from South Korea. In each case, CBP officers discovered more currency during baggage examinations than what the travelers reported to CBP officers. CBP officers seized their currency and released all travelers to continue their trips.
On the Word “Surrendered”
CBP’s use of the word “surrendered” is worth pausing on. It implies a voluntary act — as if these travelers made a considered decision to hand over their money. In reality, when CBP finds undeclared currency during a baggage examination, you do not have a meaningful choice about whether to give it up. The money is seized. The question of whether you get it back comes later, through the election of proceedings process.
There is a related concept that is genuinely terrifying and genuinely real: abandonment. In some cases, CBP pressures travelers into signing a form abandoning their currency on the spot — which is categorically different from a seizure and forecloses most of the options you would otherwise have to recover the money. If you are ever in a CBP secondary examination and an officer presents you with paperwork to sign regarding your currency, do not sign anything without speaking to a lawyer first. We have made a video specifically about this scenario because it comes up and the consequences are severe.
Three Cases, One Pattern
All three seizures share the same underlying fact: in each case, officers found more currency during the baggage examination than the traveler had reported. That is the core of a failure to report violation under 31 U.S.C. § 5316 — not necessarily a complete failure to declare, but a material discrepancy between the declared amount and the actual amount. Whether the underreport was deliberate or the result of a miscount or misunderstanding, the legal result is the same: CBP seizes the full amount.
The Lebanon-bound couple, the Nepal-bound family, and the arriving South Korean family all represent different traveler profiles and different directions of travel — two outbound, one inbound — but the enforcement mechanism is identical. CBP officers at Dulles conduct baggage examinations on both departing and arriving international passengers, and the currency reporting requirement applies equally in both directions. There is no safe harbor for arrivals versus departures.
“Released to Continue Their Trips” — What That Actually Means
CBP’s release notes that all travelers were “released to continue their trips.” That sounds benign. The reality is considerably more disruptive. The secondary examination process — the questioning, the counting, the documentation, the seizure paperwork — is time-consuming. For travelers who were attempting to board departing international flights, the examination almost certainly caused them to miss their flights. Their bags may already have been loaded. They are now responsible for rebooking on their own, at their own expense, on whatever next available flight exists — which may not be for a day or more. If it is not until the next day, they are paying for a hotel too.
None of that is in the press release. CBP reports the seizure amounts and the release of the travelers. It does not report the rebooking fees, the missed connections, the hotel costs, or the hours spent in secondary examination. The practical cost of a currency seizure extends well beyond the amount seized, and that is worth understanding before deciding how to handle the situation going forward.
What Happens Next — and Why Dulles Is Different
Each of these travelers will receive a Notice of Seizure from CBP’s Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures office, along with an election of proceedings form. They have roughly 30 days from that notice to choose their path: an administrative petition, a CAFRA seized asset claim, or an offer in compromise. The right choice depends on the specific facts of each case — the amount, the circumstances of the discovery, what the traveler said during the examination, and the documentation available to support the source and intended use of the funds.
Dulles CBP’s FP&F office is among the more aggressive in the country. Unrepresented petitioners consistently get worse outcomes there than the facts of their cases warrant. If you are one of the travelers from these seizures, or if you have had cash seized at Dulles in any amount, contact us before filing anything on your own. Read our customs money seizure legal guide or watch the video series, and reach out for a free consultation using the contact options on this page.