Recent BJ trip cash through airport security problem

[jimsmith]

On a recent bj trip flying within the usa I was going through airport security. My bag went through the security guy grabbed it aside and said he needed to look in it.
He found a sealed envelope with some money in it and called over another security guy maybe the supervisor? He asked me how much money was in it. I told him around 20k but wasn't sure the exact amount. Then he asked me for an id. I gave him my id and he said I had to wait there, and could not touch my bag while he took my id and walked off into another room. I waited about 5 minutes, he returned saying I was good to go. I asked him what that was about and he said it was just some precedure they had to check out. I've traveled through this airport many times and never had this problem before.
On the way back through the other airport a similar thing happened. The guy took my bag aside, searched it and when he found the money envelope I just told him "travelling cash"and he let me go. I'd never had this happen at this airport either.
What's going on now? Airport security are now searching people who travel with cash on them? Is it not safe to travel with cash anymore? Why are they demanding my ID and taking it into some office? Will they confinscate money it if it's over a certain amount?

[Midwest Player]

Divide up your money, although I don't think I ever had more than eight or nine thousand on me. Here is what I do. I usually have a couple thousand in my wallet. I wear a money belt and usually have 4 or 5 thousand in there. Then I just have a money envelope with another couple thousand. When I go thru security I put my wallet in a zipped outside pocket of my jacket. My money belt is taken off and put in an inside pocket of my jacket and pinned to the jacket. The couple thousand envelope is usually just put with my keys and I have my jacket folded over it so it can't be seen or I just stick in another inside pocket. The one time I left the money envelope in my shirt pocket TSA wanted to see the money, but they never touched it. I just thumbed the bills for them to see.

[Bubbles]

If you're flying domestically in the USA, you can legally carry as much as you want. They will only have it seized if they believe it was obtained illegally. I do not know why they took your ID. If you're traveling internationally, anything over $10k needs to be declared. There is no max on what can be declared, just that it must be. If you don't declare it to customs, they can seize it. Other countries have different requirements, so you also need to comply with the country to which you are going.

I've been concerned about civil asset forfeitures lately. I have questions like, if the DEA, or other entity potentially wanting to seize your cash, stops you to "ask questions," can you say no and walk away? Can they detain you without arresting you? Google shows thousands of seizures with almost no arrests or charges made. Could the people have just refused questioning and walked away?

From what I gather, it's best to carry it in a money bag or sealed and addressed envelope. If you try to hide that it's money and they find it, they can use that as evidence to seize it. It's slightly safer to use a bank, like Bank of America, and deposit before flying and withdraw at the other end. This may take some phone calls to ensure the bank will have enough cash to give you when you arrive. I personally worry some about the frequent cash transactions. I'd hate to generate CTR's every week and have a teller decide it's suspicious and get my accounts locked. On the other hand, the recent receipts show a strong preponderance of evidence that the money came from legitimate sources, most likely saving you from having it seized, and similarly making it easier to get it back if it was. IANAL.

I went through TSA twice two weeks ago with about 13k on me. It was just loose in my bag bundled in thousands with a rubber band around it. I keep my bank receipts with it. Nothing interesting happened. I'm curious how other's handle getting their trip BR to their destination safely.

[Stealth]

Asset (cash) seizures are a big exposure (lots of work going on to change these laws) so make sure you have some corroborating documentation like bank withdrawal slips, casino chips to verify gambling, log of casino play, letter from CPA that you are a pro gambler. In many circumstances they have taken the money and ignored the explanation from the owner. Horrendous legal problem to get it back (and will cost about $5K successful or not). You will be required to prove how you got the money.

The laws make the proceeds from these actions as a source of "extra revenue" to police departments. Can you understand why they are aggressive and the motivation?

Major improvement and avoidance is to sign up for TSA Pre. ($85 for three years I think). Much less scrutiny.