Tag: cash shipment

Cash Hidden Inside Envelope Seized on Export by CBP

CBP Miami Intercepts Money Exports

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on

CBP Miami made some significant cash seizures in outbound cargo shipments, which in this case were heading toward Costa Rica.

Just as it is illegal to hand-carry more than $10,000 out of the country without reporting it on form Fincen 105, so too is it illegal to ship it out of the country without reporting it.

In this case, one packaged contained $29k, and the other $19k. Both were destined for Costa Rica.

Here’s the story:

MIAMI – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers had a busy week seizing … money attempted to be exported from the United States through Miami International Airport (MIA).

Last week, CBP officers assigned to the Outbound Enforcement Team at MIA intercepted … $48,000.00 in US currency, in different outbound shipments of cargo.

The shipments of contraband originated from the eastern region of the U.S. and were destined to …. Costa Rica.

      • On May 15, officers seized $29,000.00 in US Currency. The cash was concealed within magazines and parcels destined for Costa Rica. 
      • On May 15, officers seized $19,000.00 in US Currency in a second shipment. The cash was concealed within magazines, book and documents also destined for Costa Rica.

“The outbound cargo environment in Miami is the gateway to the Caribbean and South America, in which criminal enterprises attempt to use transportation routes traffic drugs, guns and money,” said Christopher D. Matson, CBP Port Director at Miami International Airport. “CBP’s Outbound Enforcement Team continues to conduct outbound sweeps of cargo resulting in significant seizures that disrupt dangerous criminal networks.”

CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo and search for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.

Has CBP seized your money?

Has CBP seized your money? If so, we can help. Read our helpful customs money seizure legal guide (or watch the videos) and contact us for a free currency seizure consultation by clicking the contact buttons on this page.

Detroit CBP returns Canadian dollars concealed within a book

Detroit CBP Returns Canadian Dollars

Posted by Jason P. Wapiennik on

The requirement to report cash to Customs applies not only to U.S. currency, but also to foreign currency (among other monetary instruments). Detroit CBP returned $4,000 Canadian dollars to a man who attempted to send the money into the United States to avoid detection, in a kind of reversal of how the forfeiture and seizure process usually works. Bear with as I explain.

If I understand the story correctly, Customs intercepted a package that was shipped from an elderly person in Canada that contained a book. Inside the pages of the book was placed Canadian currency. The cash was put in the book in such a way as to avoid detection. The recipient address of the book/cash in the United States has previously been associated with fraudulent identification sales.

Detroit CBP returns Canadian dollars concealed within a book
Detroit CBP returns Canadian dollars

And that’s where the story gets interesting. Though the sender of the book is the person who violated the law (by attempting to smuggle currency into the United States in the pages of a book and by failing to declare the shipment’s true contents), CBP is apparently returning the money to the sender because he was the victim of a scam that targets elderly people.

Kudos to Detroit CBP on this one. Although I have occasion to disagree with their seizure policies and enforcement techniques on occasion, this time it seems they’ve really cut through a black-and-white/good-vs-bad interpretation of the law and are returning the money to its owner, without need for a formal seizure and forfeiture process.

Want Detroit CBP to return your Canadian dollars?

If you want Detroit CBP to return your Canadian dollars you can learn more about the process from our trusted customs money seizure legal guide and can contact us for a free currency seizure consultation by clicking the contact buttons on this page.