Approximately $100,000 in cash attempted to be smuggled out of the country was intercepted and confiscated at Dulles Airport during the Memorial Day weekend.
According to an announcement by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on the 2nd, on the 23rd of last month, Vito, a two-year-old German Shepherd dog trained in cash detection by CBP officers, apprehended a man and his family while they were checking in for a flight to Brussels, Belgium.
The man initially claimed that he and his wife each possessed $7,000, but upon being asked about the requirement to declare the cash as being out of the country, he corrected his statement to $20,000 and listed $22,500 on the currency reporting form. However, a thorough inspection revealed an additional $1,450 in his pants pocket, bringing the final confirmed amount to $46,520.
On the following day, the 24th, a mother and daughter from Cameroon were also apprehended while attempting to board a flight to Brussels. According to CBP, when officers explained the cash regulations, the mother and daughter initially stated that the cash amounted to $15,000.
Later, the daughter, a U.S. citizen, listed $22,361 on the declaration form. However, a thorough search of the suitcase revealed cash sewn into women’s undergarments. The total amount found in this case was $52,923. CBP confiscated a total of $99,443 found in these two incidents over two days.
According to CBP regulations, cash can be taken out of the United States regardless of the amount, but amounts exceeding $10,000 (including foreign currency and travellers’ checks) must be declared to customs. Furthermore, the declaration requirement applies if the total combined total of a family (accompanying travellers) exceeds $10,000, rather than on an individual basis.
Data from the U.S. Border Patrol and the CBP Office of Field Operations indicates that from October 2024 to September 2025, CBP enforcement agents and investigators nationwide seized an average of over $182,000 per day of undeclared or illegally smuggled currency.