A man from New Jersey on his way to Nigeria was apprehended at Philadelphia International Airport with more than $200,000 in unreported currency.
The currency was seized by US Customs and Border Protection on January 22, 2023.
According to ABC 27, the travelers are free to bring as much currency and other monetary instruments as they want, but federal law requires them to report any currency worth $10,000 or more.
According to Customers and Border Protection, the US citizen on his way to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, claimed to have $11,000 in his possession.
During a search of his luggage, officers discovered $200,068 in US dollars and the equivalent of $251.54 in Nigerian Naira, for a total of $200,319.54.
According to USCBP, this is the third largest unreported currency seizure in the Area Port of Philadelphia since the agency’s inception in 2003.
The currency was seized by CBP officers, who remitted $1,251.54 to the traveller for humanitarian purposes before releasing him without charges.
Homeland Security Investigations, according to the report, has launched an investigation and will look into the origins of the suspected illicit proceeds.
“This is a significant amount of unreported currency for any traveller to be carrying, especially with today’s electronic systems that make transferring currency much easier,” said Joseph Martella, CBP’s Area Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia.
“The most important lesson international travellers can take from this seizure is to truthfully report all currency in their possession to Customs and Border Protection officers when they arrive to or leave the United States.”