by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:53 PM ET, Thu September 10, 2020
Officers at a Miami airport seized almost $500,000 being smuggled out of the United States in furniture.
A United States Custom and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson revealed that security officials Miami International Airport discovered $491,280 in unreported U.S. currency concealed inside the bottom of a chair that was part of a crate containing furniture.
The shipment was destined to the Dominican Republic and was selected for examination during outbound enforcement operations.
The failure to report cash is a violation of U.S. currency reporting requirements and carries penalties that include the seizure and forfeiture of most or all of the currency and potential criminal charges.
"Criminal organizations will attempt to export large sums of cash to launder their ill-gotten gains," CBP Acting Port Director at the Miami airport Robert Del Toro said. "This is a significant seizure and represents the impact we can make on criminal's profits and was the direct result of our officer's vigilance and watchfulness."
CBP officers seize an average of about $207,000 in unreported or illicit currency every day.
Last month, officials in the U.S. ordered the closure of several entry points with Mexico and added more secondary checks to curb non-essential travel between the countries.
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