C.B.P. Agents Seize Over $115K At Border Crossings

POSTED: 3:48 am PDT March 23, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry along California's border with Mexico seized more than $115,000 in cash headed for Mexico in one week's time, officials announced Tuesday.

A total of $115,142 was seized during outbound inspections from 6 a.m. March 15 through 6 a.m. Monday, according to Customs and Border Protection. The agency reported that the cash was seized from both Mexican and U.S. travelers who were entering Mexico on foot, by bus or in a vehicle.

The largest single seizure occurred at 6 a.m. March 16 when officers stopped a 40-year-old U.S. citizen from Tijuana with $33,900 in her purse, CBP officials said.

Later the same day, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen driving a 2001 Ford Explorer was pulled over at the port of entry in Calexico. A canine trained to sniff out cash and firearms reacted to the Explorer and a subsequent vehicle inspection led to $13,905 being found in a rear quarter panel, CBP officials said.

It is legal to transport large sums of cash across the border in either direction, but it is illegal to conceal it from authorities.

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