It was all routine. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, a traveler was driving over the international bridge in Brownsville, Texas, heading into Mexico. Customs and Border Protection officers selected the vehicle for an outbound inspection, one of dozens chosen for examination each day.
The agents had a dog sniff the car, and they used another unspecified device that led to a discovery — $70,749 in cash.
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Had the driver declared the cash, nothing would have happened. But because the money wasn’t mentioned before the inspection, the agents confiscated it.
That caught the attention of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
“If the person isn’t guilty,” Massie wrote, “this is theft.”
Looking for ‘proceeds from illicit activity’
There is no limit to how much money a person may carry with them when entering or exiting the United States, but everyone must declare amounts over $10,000. The law applies to cash, cashiers checks and money orders.
Anyone who fails to declare more than $10,000, or does so fraudulently, can face up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine in addition to the confiscation.
“CBP officers’ duties not only involve inspecting inbound traffic but also stopping unreported bulk currency which are often proceeds from illicit activity and their efforts led to this seizure of unreported currency,” Brownsville Port of Entry Director Tater Ortiz said in a statement.
Homeland Security Investigations is looking into the seizure.
A petition for return
The policy can increase public safety when it stops international drug smugglers from carrying their profits over the border. But it can also impact people who were unaware of the law and were carrying money for honest reasons.
To get the money back, a person has to petition the federal government. To be successful, a petitioner must prove the money was intended for legitimate purposes.
Just like an outbound inspection for drivers going over an international bridge, cash seizures are common for CBP agents.
In June, agents in Hidalgo, Texas, seized $815,475 from a man driving a minivan over the bridge. Port Director Carlos Rodriguez said at the time that those seizures are key to disrupting criminal networks and limiting their access to illegal profits.
