TSA: Large Amounts of Currency Will Be Referred to Law Enforcement

The TSA's war on cash isn't made up by screeners... it's actually official policy.

http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.c...currency-will-be-referred-to-law-enforcement/

The case was the old case against the Ron Paul fundraiser who was detained for having $4,700. TSA says they've "updated" their policy. Do you believe it?

--Jon

 

I believe they'll try to steal it if they can.

 

Is $10K really that much cash anymore? Not that I recommend carrying a wad of cash through an airport or anywhere else for that matter, but it wouldn't buy you a good used car.

Nonetheless, it is legal tender and possession of it isn't a crime or even suspicious per se. I get it that they're looking for drug money but that isn't their job but instead provides a convenient way around the probable cause issue that real LE has to meet.

 

This is why I was annoyed when ACLU withdrew the lawsuit without so much as a consent decree.

 

Apparently I didn't drink enough out of the stupid cup. I'm still not sure how this "policy" keeps fliers safe.

"concealing cash"-um yes of course it's conceled. I wouldn't walk around with even a $5 bill pinned to the front of my shirt. I "conceal" it so you @$%@ don't STEAL it.

What's next? Is TSA going match up the number of underpants in my luggage with the length of my trip and hassle me about that if they don't match up to their liking?

 

There are several accounts of this in my Master List. Ron Paul's fundraiser won this case and got the TSA to admit it was wrong and that its minions wouldn't, supposedly, do it anymore. Of course we all know how well they follow their own rules.

Years ago, I was flying out of CDG alone. As always used to be my m.o. when I flew alone, I took my cash and credit card out of my purse and stuck them in my bra. (I used to do this in the U.S., too; obviously this was before the gropes.) I wasn't about to let my valuables go on through the conveyor belt and get left on the other side out of my reach.

So when I went through the metal detector with no problem and retrieved my stuff on the other side, I stopped then and there to pull my cash and credit card out. Shouldn't have done that; should've waited until I was well on my way to the gate.

A uniformed woman -- no idea if she worked for the airline or for the French version of security -- stepped up and snatched the stuff out of my hand, along with my boarding pass. No word, no nothing, just grabbed them. And off she went. I stood there and waited. A few minutes later, she came back and handed everything back to me.

If I ever fly again, I'll make sure to be more careful.

 

They already do that with medications and baby formula, so why not?

 

If any of the lurkers are wondering why anyone would conceal a large amount of cash when they travel, a perfect example is doing fund raising activities for a 501(c)3 organization. And with all the sticky-fingered TSA employees out there, it only makes sense to "artfully conceal" it.

Not that an explanation is warranted, of course.

 

Or, as in the case of a colleague of mine, returning to China to spend the last few days with his dying mother. lots of things to take care of, cash is easiest/fastest. "The customs people in China were very polite. In the US, they looked at me as if I were a criminal, treated me like a criminal. It used to be the reverse; now China is better."