Customs Officers Seize Nearly $66K At Washington Dulles Airport

DULLES, VA —Customs officials seized almost $66,000 last weekend from two travelers for violating federal currency reporting laws at Washington Dulles National Airport, according a release.

On Friday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected a U.S. woman after she arrived from a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The woman told the officers she was carrying $10,070 and had completed a Treasury FINCEN-105 form for that amount. After searching the woman's carry-on bag and purse, they'll discovered $39,536. They seized the money and released the woman.

On Sunday, CBP officers inspected a man who was a U.S. lawful permanent resident at the departure gate for a flight heading to Casablanca, Morocco. Although the man said he had $10,000 and had reported that amount on a FINCEN-105 form, officers found $26,000 in the man's carry-on bag and jacket. After seizing the money, the officers gave the man $1,300 for humanitarian relief and released him.

The CBP officers did not file criminal charges against either of the passengers.

“Grossly under-reporting on both the Treasury currency reporting form and verbally to a Customs and Border Protection officer during an inspection is a clear violation of our nation’s currency reporting laws,” said Keith Fleming, acting director of Field Operations for CBP’s Baltimore Field Office in a release. “CBP encourages travelers to truthfully report all currency and monetary instruments that they possess to a CBP officer.”

While travelers may carry any amount of money when crossing U.S. borders, they are required to report currency or monetary amounts in excess of $10,000 to the CBP before leaving the country.