$56K Seized By Customs Officers At Dulles Airport With Aid Of K9 Fuzz

DULLES, VA — With the help of K9 Fuzz, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at a Virginia airport were alerted on Thursday to currency that was later determined to be unclaimed in the carryon bags of two passengers on their way to Doha, Qatar.

Currency detector dog Fuzz was checking the carryon baggage of outbound travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport, when he alerted to the bags of a man who was traveling to Iraq with his mother. The man told CBP that he'd filled out a FINCEN 105 form, reporting that he had $30,000 in his possession.

After searching the man and his mother's carryon bags and their persons, CBP officers found $42,000. The officers took the two passengers to the CBP Inspection Station, where a search revealed the man had an additional $14,400 in his checked baggage. CBP seized a combined $56,400 and released the man and his mother to be continue their trip to Iraq.

Earlier on Thursday, CBP had seized $68,000 in unclaimed currency from a Nigeria-bound family.

“These are two currency seizures that could have been completely avoided had the two parties truthfully reported all of their currency to Customs and Border Protection officers,” said Marc E. Calixte, area port director for CBP’s Area Port of Washington, D.C. “CBP urges all travelers to fully comply with our nation’s laws during inspection, including U.S. federal currency reporting law.”

There is no limit to how much money or other monetary instruments a traveler may bring into or out of the U.S. However, U.S. law requires travelers to report all currency of $10,000 and more that they are carrying to the CBP and fill out a U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments [FINCEN 105].

In addition to having their unreported money seized by CBP, travelers who do not truthfully report all of their currency may be criminally prosecuted for bulk currency smuggling.

In 2022, CBP officers seized about $217,700 daily in unreported or illicit currency along U.S. boarders.