American Busted At Tocumen With $37K in Undeclared Cash


News from Panama / Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Don’t ever  try this  as you will loose your money.

Don Winner from the Panama Guide reports yet another incident of stupidity, try to bring undeclared cash into Panama.

Panamanian Customs authorities seized this Tuesday, 4 September 2012, $37,480 from an American citizen who failed to declare the cash when entering the country from Los Angeles, California, said an official source.

Customs inspectors stationed at the Tocumen International Airport noticed the irregularity when the foreigner, who they did not identify, said he was not bringing more than $10,000 dollars in cash, according to a statement from the National Customs Authority (ANA).

When the foreigner sent his luggage through the scanner, Customs agents suspected something irregular, so they made a second inspection and found the undeclared money, said the source.

According to legal procedures, the American will be investigated to delineate his responsibility, the report said.

The foreigner violated customs laws that require any person entering the country to declare to the ANA when they are carrying more than $10,000 dollars in cash or securities, which is grounds for confiscation and sanctions.

Those persons found to be carrying undeclared cash are given $500 dollars for personal expenses, pending the investigation of the origin of money they carried.

With this most recent seizure, so far this year the ANA has seized a total of $2.3 million dollars in undeclared cash, said Customs. (Prensa)

Editor’s Comment: This person probably won’t get the money back. Now the FBI, IRS, and every three letter organization that ends in “Agency” will be looking at this dude hard. They hand you $500 bucks, take a statement, and send you on your way while they open an official investigation for suspected money laundering. The drug traffickers hire mules to haul cash on airplanes. In Panama the drugs go North and the cash comes South. Welcome to Panama. It should be noted it is NOT illegal to bring more than $10,000 in cash with you, as long as you declare it to Customs upon arrival. If you sell a house in the States (for example) and bring a huge wad of cash with you – then good for you. You can only get yourself in trouble if you don’t declare the money. Like this guy.