By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Diego Field Office ports of entry seized a combined $148,693 in unreported currency on three separate occasions, federal authorities said.
The most recent interception occurred Sept. 10, at the San Ysidro port of entry when a 37-year-old male and his vehicle were referred for further examination. The driver gave a negative declaration for currency and presented his passport card to Customs and Border Protection officers when applying for entry.
During the examination, a currency and firearm detector dog was alerted to the trunk area of the vehicle. Upon further inspection of that area, officers discovered bundles of undeclared U.S. currency totaling $49,600.
Three days earlier, officers at the Calexico downtown port of entry intercepted two currency smuggling attempts while conducting routine outbound inspections. Both male drivers were heading into Mexico and gave negative currency declarations to officers. During their inspections, officers discovered several bundles of U.S. currency concealed underneath the travelers’ clothing totaling $45,988, and another $53,105 was found taped to the traveler’s legs.
In each of these instances, officers seized the U.S. currency and the vehicles. All drivers have been released from Customs and Border Protection custody.
There is no limit to how much currency or other monetary instruments travelers may bring to or take out of the United States. However, federal law requires travelers to report all currency of $10,000 or greater to a Customs and Border Protection officer and complete the U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments.
