U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducting outbound inspections at Arizona’s Port of Douglas detained a local woman Aug. 11 for failing to report a large sum of U.S. currency she was taking into Mexico.
Officers selected the woman, identified as a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, for a secondary inspection as she attempted to depart the U.S. in her 2016 Ford Explorer. After the woman said she had nothing to declare regarding currency, firearms and ammunition, officers looked in her purse and discovered more than $70,000 in cash and $50,000 in unendorsed cashier’s checks.
Officers seized the currency, vehicle and cashier’s checks. The subject was arrested for smuggling of unreported currency and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
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. Consequences for violating federal currency reporting requirements are severe.