Sammis Law Firm

Airport Seizures

Seizure of Cash at the Airport

Did you know that federal agents routinely seize U.S. currency from travelers at the busiest airports in the United States? Cash seizures at the international airports across the country are all too common.

If your money was taken at the airport, write down where and when it occurred so that your attorney can order surveillance video of the detention, search, and seizure. Save your boarding pass showing the gate number and other information about the flight. Write down everything you can remember about what the officers said and did during the incident.

Those officers who seized your hard-earned money wrote detailed reports for the attorneys in their agency. You should also write a confidential report for your attorney. Those small details might help your attorney show that the detention was illegal and the seizure of your U.S. Currency was unwarranted.

If you want your money back quickly, you must act quickly to protect your rights.

Attorney Fighting Cash Seizures at the Airport

If a law enforcement officer confiscated your cash at the airport, call attorney Leslie Sammis. Over the past ten years, she has handled many civil asset forfeiture cases involving cash confiscation at the airport.

Attorney Leslie Sammis understands the rules for seizing cash for forfeiture before domestic and international flights. She understands the importance of filing a claim for court action to bypass the administrative proceedings.

Those administrative proceedings that require filing a petition for remission or mitigation should be avoided because they often don’t work. Many people who file a petition for remission or mitigation are shocked to find out months later in a form letter that none of the money will be returned. They are even more shocked to learn that it is too late to demand court action and that nothing else can be done.

Instead, find out as much as possible about the benefits of filing a demand for court action immediately after the money is taken. By demanding court action, your rights are protected. It is the only way to contest the legality of the initial detention and seizure.

At that point, the agency can no longer decide what happens to your money. Instead, the government has to either return the cash quickly or file a “complaint for forfeiture” in the U.S. District Court.

Your attorney can represent you in court and even demand a jury trial. If you substantially prevail in court, the judge is REQUIRED under federal law to award you reasonable attorney fees.

For all those reasons, if you are represented by an experienced attorney who files for court action and knows how to litigate the case through a jury trial, the government might decide to immediately return the money.

Don’t compound one mistake by making another. Contact an experienced attorney at 813-250-0500. We can act quickly to preserve your rights by helping you file a claim.

Call 813-250-0500.

How Cash is Seized for Forfeiture at the Airport

When travelers arrive at the airport, TSA screeners might discover cash in carry-on luggage at the security checkpoint. Checked luggage goes through a similar screening process. When the cash is discovered, the TSA sends secret tips to law enforcement officers who rush to the gate.

These officers receive task force training on “airport interdictions.” They work closely with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other federal agencies.

The officers might stop the suspect at the gate before the flight to ask questions, including:

  • Where are you traveling to and why?
  • How long will you stay and where?
  • Do you have drugs or money in your possession?
  • Will you consent to a search of your pockets, carry-on bag, or checked luggage?
  • How did you earn all this cash, and why are you bringing it on the flight?

The officer is looking for inconsistent statements raising suspicion of drug trafficking under 21 U.S. Code § 881(a) or money laundering. Almost anything counts as “circumstantial evidence,” including buying a one-way ticket, booking a last-minute flight, packaging the money suspiciously, or an alert by a drug dog (even when no drugs are found).

Before an international flight, the seizure usually involves a violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5316(a) for failing to report cash that exceeds $10,000, structuring the currency between two or more travelers to avoid the reporting requirements, or bulk cash smuggling. The officer might seize the unreported funds pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 5317(c)(2), which permits civil forfeiture for violations of § 5316.

The agents do not always immediately count the currency seized. Instead, they might write “undisclosed amount of U.S. Currency” on the receipt.

After the seizure, the traveler should immediately hire an attorney to help them make a verified claim. At Sammis Law Firm, our experienced civil asset forfeiture attorneys can help you file the claim immediately after the seizure.

Filing the claim triggers a 90-day deadline for the agency to either return the money to your attorney or convince an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) to file a lawsuit called a “complaint for forfeiture” in the U.S. District Court. If they miss the 90-day deadline, the property must be immediately returned with interest and sometimes attorney fees.

You Don’t Have to Wait for the “Notice of Seizure”

Most people do NOT hire an attorney and wait. After waiting up to 60 days, CBP will send a “notice of seizure” by certified mail. The notice tells the traveler that the property was seized and subject to civil forfeiture. The notice explains various options, including:

  • Doing nothing so CBP can initiate nonjudicial forfeiture proceedings within thirty-five days to keep the money without a fight;
  • Filing a petition for an administrative action for remission or mitigation within thirty days from the date of the letter, which stipulates the seizure was proper but allows CBP to decide whether to release some of the property;
  • Contest the seizure by filing a verified claim for court action within 35 days.

Although some attorneys might suggest filing a petition and submitting financial records, bank statements, and tax returns, you are not required to provide the government with such documentation. If the taking was illegal, you should file a claim for court action to demand the money be returned.

Many people do not comply with the deadline for court action because their verified claim is not received before the deadline. In those cases, the federal agency will send a form letter advising the person that the petition was “untimely and would not be considered and that administrative forfeiture proceedings were initiated.”

Finding an Attorney to Get Your Seized Money Back

If you receive a notice of seizure from CBP inviting you to file a petition for remission or mitigation, act quickly to talk to an attorney at Sammis Law Firm about the benefits of simply demanding court action in a verified claim.

Filing the claim is the only way to start the government’s 90-day deadline to file a complaint in federal court. Demanding court action is often the best way to quickly get the cash seized from the airport back.

Call 813-250-0500.