Airport Seizure: Could It Happen To You?

D.E.A. Agents tell a Bronx man to hand over his cash to them.

Last year on June 17th, 2008, David Flores thought he was taking a flight to Puerto Rico for his first vacation.

He was carrying $ 6,290.00 in cash on him. David admits he wasn't planning to spend all of that in Puerto Rico, but he had never been anywhere before and wanted to be prepared and because he is one of those people who doesn't rely on banks, he tends to carry a lot of money around on him.

When he and his friends went thru the security check at JFK Airport, he was asked about his money. He admitted how much he had on him and was asked to sign his name on a sheet of paper and then security agents went thru his luggage, taking items out and putting them back in. Never having flown anywhere before, David thought this was normal procedure and wasn't concerned.

Afterwards he and his friends went to get something to eat, because the flight was delayed, but when they got to their gate, they were approached by two D.E.A. agents. The agents asked David about the money he was carrying. David says he explained to the agents what he carrying and says he didn't feel uncomfortable, because he was secure about his cash.

That was when the agents told him that he would have to hand over all of his $ 6,290.00 to them.

Because the agents took every single cent, David didn't feel comfortable traveling and he never got on the plane and never made it to Puerto Rico. About a month later he received a letter from the D.E.A., in it he claims they accused him of going to Puerto Rico to buy drugs.

David disputed their claim and the D.E.A. wrote him back, saying that it was up to him to file a claim to get his money back. David proceeded to do that. He completed the necessary paperwork, got everything notorized and waited to hear back. Several months passed and finally he got a letter back from them in October, stating that his claim had been accepted. Happily he waited to receive his money, but then nothing happened for months.

Finally fed up, David contacted Help Me Howard last month and we decided to look into his claim. First we had to look into David's background to find out why the D.E.A. would be interested in him and he was honest with us, admitting that he did have a criminal record that involved several misdemeanor drug charges and a felony arrest for assault, in which he had served three-years in prison. But he was also proud of how he had turned his life around after prison, how he had worked hard to get his commercial driver's license and was now gainfully employed. Two of his supervisors also vouched for David as an upstanding citizen, so we decided to call the D.E.A. to find out what had happened to David's money.

The D.E.A. told us they had forwarded his case to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York, who told us:

" ...this case was reviewed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, as a referral from the D.E.A. , as a Civil Foreiture referral. from there it was referred back to the D.E.A...the D.E.A. will now contact the U.S. Marshall's Service to arrange for delivery of the property back to Mr. Flores."

Our next call was to the U.S. Marshall's Office, who confirmed the fact that; yes, all they were waiting for was word from the D.E.A. and David should have his money in about a week.

Now was David's money confiscated because of his criminal record? Possibly, but so far he has not been charged with anything. We tried to talk to the D.E.A., but they said they could not comment on an "open case".

It appears that David experienced what is called a "Civil Forfeiture", where the government can literally take your money, if they suspect you of something, and the onus is on you to get it back. Is it illegal to travel with $6,290 in cash? We don't think so, but it will DEFINITELY attract attention. To protect yourself and your money, it's best to travel with a combination of cash, travelers checks and a credit card. Most countries now have ATMS, plus you can also have money wired to you once you get to your location.