In May 2014, CBP officers working the outbound lanes at the Hidalgo International Bridge stopped a U.S.-based taxicab heading into Mexico. The occupants were asked to declare whether they were transporting more than $10,000. After further questioning the vehicle was referred to secondary, where officers found bundles of currency concealed in a traveller’s personal belongings totalling $143,932. The passenger was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations.
The detail worth pausing on is the vehicle. It was a taxi. Somebody owned that cab, and in all likelihood that somebody was working a shift and had no idea what was in the back.
When the Money Belongs to a Passenger
Vehicle forfeiture is routine in outbound currency cases. A conveyance used to transport concealed currency is generally exposed to forfeiture alongside the money, and we have written elsewhere about drivers losing their own cars in these stops.
A hired vehicle is a different problem. The person who committed the violation is not the person who owns the asset, and the owner may be a taxi operator, a bus line, a trucking company, a rental firm, or a lender holding title. These are people with no connection to the violation who can nonetheless find their property tied up in someone else’s federal case.
The Common Carrier Exception
Customs law contains a specific protection here, and it is not widely known outside the transport industry.
19 U.S.C. § 1594(b)
A conveyance used by a person as a common carrier, in the transaction of business as a common carrier, is not subject to seizure and forfeiture under the customs laws for violations relating to merchandise contained in specified circumstances. CBP’s own regulation at 19 CFR § 162.22(a) states the point directly: common carriers are exempted from seizure except under the conditions set out in section 594. Historically the exception turned on whether the owner, master, conductor or driver was a consenting party or privy to the illegal act.
Two qualifications matter and neither should be glossed over.
Whether the operator is a common carrier is a question, not an assumption. Taxis generally are. A private hire arrangement, a rideshare driver using a personal vehicle, or a friend giving someone a lift for money may not be, and the answer turns on how the business is actually conducted rather than what it is called.
The exception is anchored to the customs laws. A currency forfeiture may be pursued under Title 31 rather than under the customs laws, and the protections available depend on which authority the government invokes. The first thing a carrier should establish is the statutory basis on the seizure paperwork, because the analysis runs differently from there.
Innocent Owners Who Are Not Carriers
Most third-party vehicle owners in these cases are not common carriers at all. They are employers whose worker took a company truck across, parents whose adult child borrowed the car, or finance companies holding a lien on a vehicle the borrower drove to the border.
For them the route is the innocent owner defence in civil forfeiture, which generally requires showing either that the owner did not know of the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture, or that on learning of it the owner did all that could reasonably be expected in the circumstances to terminate that use. It is a real defence and a demanding one, and it has a threshold that trips people: you must first establish an actual ownership interest. Our page on the CAFRA seized asset claim form covers what asserting that interest involves, and our customs seizure defence page covers the position where the forfeiture proceeds under the customs laws instead.
The owner has to act, and the deadline is theirs
A vehicle owner cannot rely on the driver’s response, and frequently will not even hear about the case from them. The notice runs to interested parties on the deadline attached to the notice, storage and towing costs accrue the whole time, and a company that waits to find out how the criminal matter resolves can lose the asset by default long before that happens.
“Most Seizures of Currency Involve Money From Illicit Activities”
That was the port director’s statement in this release, offered immediately after acknowledging that carrying currency across the border is lawful provided it is declared.
It is worth treating that sentence carefully, because it describes a belief rather than a legal standard. In civil forfeiture the government bears the burden of establishing that property is forfeitable, and where its theory is that the property was involved in an offence it must show a substantial connection to that offence. No presumption attaches to seized cash because of what officers believe about seized cash generally.
It also does not match what walks through the door. In this practice the overwhelming majority of currency seizure clients lost money to a reporting failure with an ordinary explanation behind it: a traveller who did not know the requirement existed, one who misunderstood what counted, one who answered a narrow question literally, one who was exhausted at the end of a long trip, and occasionally one who was the subject of enforcement that was aggressive rather than unlawful. Those people exist in large numbers and they are not represented in press releases, because a case that ends in remission does not generate one.
If Your Vehicle Was Seized Over Someone Else’s Money
- Identify the statutory authority named on the seizure paperwork before anything else. It determines which protections apply.
- Assert your own interest in your own name, on your own deadline. Do not wait on the driver or passenger.
- Assemble ownership documentation: title, registration, lease or finance agreement, and any operating authority if you run as a carrier.
- Document your own procedures. Hiring practices, dispatch records, and any policy on carrying cargo or cash for passengers go to the knowledge question.
- Track the storage and towing costs accruing, because they are usually payable even where relief is granted.
The mechanics of the written submission are covered on our page about the petition for remission or mitigation, and the underlying allegation against the traveller is explained on our page about bulk cash smuggling. Our customs money seizure guide sets out the process and deadlines. Outcomes depend heavily on the specific facts and the documentation available.
Your Vehicle Seized Over Someone Else’s Cash?
Carriers, employers, lenders and lessors have their own interests to assert, on their own deadlines. Contact us for a confidential case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can CBP seize a taxi or company vehicle over a passenger’s cash?
A conveyance used to transport concealed currency is generally exposed to forfeiture. Customs law contains a common carrier exception at 19 U.S.C. § 1594, but its reach depends on whether the operator qualifies as a common carrier and on which forfeiture authority the government invokes.
My employee drove a company truck. What do I do?
Assert the company’s interest in its own name rather than relying on the employee. Title and registration documents, operating records, and evidence of your own policies and procedures all bear on the knowledge question at the centre of an innocent owner argument.
Does the driver’s criminal case affect my vehicle claim?
The forfeiture runs on its own track with its own deadline. Waiting to see how a criminal matter resolves can result in the vehicle being forfeited by default well before the prosecution concludes.
Is seized cash presumed to be criminal proceeds?
No. In civil forfeiture the government bears the burden of establishing that property is forfeitable, and must show a substantial connection where its theory is that the property was involved in an offence. Enforcement beliefs about seized cash in general are not a legal presumption.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it, or contacting Great Lakes Customs Law through this website, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a common carrier exception or an innocent owner defence is available depends on the forfeiture authority invoked and on the facts of the individual case; nothing here should be relied on as a determination that either applies. Laws, regulations, and CBP procedures change, and the outcome of any customs seizure or forfeiture matter depends heavily on its specific facts and circumstances. No result is guaranteed or implied. References to a publicly reported arrest are descriptive only; an arrest raises no inference of guilt. You should consult a licensed attorney about your particular situation before taking or refraining from any action.