BALTIMORE — Federal currency reporting requirements are simple. International travelers can carry as much currency as they wish into and out of the United States, but they 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 consequences for failure to truthfully report all currency are severe: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may seize the currency, or criminally charge the violator.
Yet, travelers continue to conceal currency or remain less than truthful on CBP declarations.
Travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport and at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) learned this lesson the hard way when CBP officers seized a combined $32,399 recently.
“These seizures illustrate the importance of travelers complying with all U.S. laws, including currency reporting regulations, during their Customs and Border Protection arrivals inspection,” said Casey Owen Durst, CBP’s Field Operations Director in Baltimore, the agency’s operational commander in the mid-Atlantic region. “As our nation’s border security agency, CBP enforces hundreds of laws and regulations every day at our nation’s 328 ports of entry, and we take this responsibility very seriously.”
On Thursday, CBP officers seized $18,578 from a U.S. citizen who arrived to Dulles on a flight from Dubai. She initially reported that she possessed $10,000. CBP officers found additional currency and checks during a secondary examination. CBP officers released $322 and two checks totaling $56 for humanitarian purposes.
at BWI and at Washington Dulles International
airports recently.
On Friday, CBP officers seized $13,821 from a Nigerian citizen at BWI. He reported to CBP officers that he possessed $9,000. During a secondary examination, CBP officers discovered British pounds concealed inside a carry-on bag. The traveler then tossed a wad of rolled up currency on the examining table. The currency, which consisted of dollars, pounds and Euros equaled $13,821. CBP officers seized the currency and returned $500 to the traveler for humanitarian purposes.
None of the travelers was criminally charged. CBP officers released all travelers to continue their journey.
CBP Office of Field Operations routinely conduct inspection operations on arriving and departing international flights and intercepts narcotics, weapons, currency, prohibited agriculture products, and other illicit items. On a typical day, CBP seizes $289,609 in undeclared or illicit currency along our nation’s borders. Learn more about what CBP's accomplishes in "A Typical Day."
Travelers are encouraged to visit CBP’s Travel website to learn more about the CBP admissions process and rules governing travel to and from the U.S.
Learn how CBP's Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders at international Ports of Entry.
The Privacy Act prohibits releasing the travelers’ names since they were not criminally charged.