CBP Finds Nearly $500K Hidden in Furniture
While air travel is down in recent months, agents have still been busy. TSA is finding more guns than ever before and now in Miami the CBP has discovered nearly a half-million dollars stashed in furniture.
U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers at Miami International Airport seized $491,280 in unreported U.S. currency last Thursday, the agency said in a news release, AP reports. The money was hidden inside a chair, which was placed in a crate with other furniture. The shipment was heading to the Dominican Republic and was selected for examination during outbound enforcement operations, officials said. Officials didn’t say why the items were selected for examination, who the money belonged to or whether criminal charges would be filed.
Transporting money in and out of the United States is not illegal. There is no limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of or brought into the country. However, if a person or persons traveling together, have more than $10,000 in currency or negotiable monetary instruments, they must fill out a “Report of International Transportation of Currency and Monetary Instruments.” Failure to do so, may be subject to forfeiture and could result in civil and or criminal penalties. If you are caught crossing the border with any amount of undeclared cash in excess of $10,000 USD you will almost certainly have it seized from you. And getting it back it not easy. You will need to provide proof of how the money was acquired.
The TSA was sued back in 2018 over the practice of civil asset forfeiture, a law enforcement technique that allows authorities to take cash and other property from people who are never convicted or even charged with a crime.
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Waiting for the standard excuses, ie: old age, limited English, don’t trust banks, not from this country, going to use the money for an old age home….