BALTIMORE — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized $16,100 from a Nigerian man at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Monday.
unreported currency at BWI airport
November 27, 2017.
The man, who CBP has not named because he was not criminally charged, initially reported to officers that he possessed $1,500. During a baggage examination, CBP officers discovered a $10,000 stack of currency and a $6,100 stack of currency.
Travelers may carry as much currency as they wish into and out of the United States. Federal law requires that travelers must report all U.S. and foreign monetary instruments totaling $10,000 or greater on a U.S. Treasury Department financial form. None of the currency is taxed.
“The United States is a welcoming nation. All we ask is that visitors respect our nation’s laws and truthfully report all currency they possess during an inspection with a Customs and Border Protection officer,” said Dianna Bowman, CBP Area Port Director for the Area Port of Baltimore.
CBP also determined the man to be inadmissible for not possessing a U.S. visitor’s visa appropriate for the purpose of his visit. The man will be returned to Nigeria on the next available flight.
“As the nation’s border security agency, Customs and Border Protection is charged with enforcing hundreds of laws and regulations at our nation’s international ports of entry,” said Casey Owen Durst, CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore, the agency’s operational commander in the mid-Atlantic region. “CBP plays a critical role in helping to keep our communities safe, and it’s a responsibility that we take very seriously.”
Travelers are encouraged to visit CBP’s Travel section to learn more about the CBP admissions process and rules governing travel to and from the U.S.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations
Almost a million times each day, CBP officers welcome international travelers into the U.S. In screening both foreign visitors and returning U.S. citizens, CBP uses a variety of techniques to intercept narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products, and to assure that global tourism remains safe and strong.
On a typical day, CBP seizes $289,609 in undeclared or illicit currency along our nation’s borders. Learn more about what CBP did during "A Typical Day" in 2016.
CBP's border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. Please visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.
Learn more about CBP at CBP.gov.