STERLING, Va. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $99,443 in unreported currency from two groups of international travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport during Memorial Day weekend.
On Saturday, May 23, CBP currency detector dog Vito, a nearly 2-year-old male German Shepherd, alerted to a U.S. citizen man and his family who attempted to board a flight to Brussels, Belgium. Officers asked the male how much currency the family possessed and he reported that he and his wife each had $7,000. Officers explained the currency reporting law to him, and he verbally–and in writing–reported that they possessed a combined $20,000.
CBP officers then assisted the male in completing a U.S. Treasury Department currency reporting form on which the man wrote that they had $22,500. During a subsequent inspection, CBP officers discovered additional currency concealed inside a small purse. CBP officers then conducted a pat-down on the male and discovered an additional $1,450 concealed inside the pockets of pants that he wore under an outer pair of pants. A currency count revealed a total of $46,520.
The following day, CBP officers stopped a U.S. citizen female and her Cameroonian mother from boarding a flight to Brussels. Officers explained the currency reporting law to the pair, and the pair reported that they had a combined $15,000.
Officers assisted the daughter in completing the currency reporting form to which the daughter wrote $22,361, more than the $15,000 she verbally reported moments before. A subsequent baggage inspection revealed additional currency stitched inside women’s undergarments. A currency count revealed a total of $52,923.
CBP officers seized both traveling party’s currency and released them without criminal charges.
“These are two seizures in which travelers went to extreme measures to unnecessarily conceal currency from Customs and Border Protection officers during a departure inspection,” said CBP Area Port Director Christine Waugh for the Area Port of Washington, D.C. “Currency reporting laws don’t restrict how much currency people can take overseas, nor is the currency taxed, the law is focused on identifying bulk currency smuggling attempts that may be associated with illegal activity, such as financial fraud or money scams, or criminal enterprises, such as drug or weapons smuggling or human trafficking. We just ask that travelers truthfully comply with our nation’s laws and then be on their way to vacation or to visit family.”
CBP officers at Dulles airport continue to see travelers concealing the full amount of currency they possess. CBP officers seized a combined $163,181 in unreported currency from four travelers in April, and in January, CBP officers seized a combined $119,178 in unreported currency from four more travelers. All travelers would have kept their currency and made their scheduled flights had they truthfully reported their full amount during the CBP departure inspection.
Travelers may carry any amount of currency and other monetary instruments that they choose, but any amounts over $10,000 must be reported to the U.S. Treasury on a U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments form [FinCEN 105].
The FinCEN 105 takes just a few minutes to complete. CBP even streamlined the compliance process so that travelers can complete and submit the form online at https://fincen105.cbp.dhs.gov prior to arriving at their airport departure gate.
Travelers may also ask CBP officers at their departure gate for assistance in completing the FinCEN 105 form.
Witnessing their currency being seized is a very serious consequence; however, accountability may not stop there. Travelers also risk missing their flight if the CBP examination results in seizure, and violators face potential criminal prosecution for bulk currency smuggling.
CBP officers and agents seized an average of $182,465 in unreported or illicit currency every day along our nation’s borders during fiscal year 2025. View more CBP enforcement stats.
CBP’s border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.
Learn more at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on X @DFOBaltimore and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram @cbpfieldops.
