The Recent TSA Tweet Was Worse Than We Thought

a bag full of money

On Tuesday, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein posted a picture of a passenger’s suitcase, which contained $75,000 in cash, on Twitter.

a bag full of money

Turns out the passenger lost more than their privacy, they also lost their property.

Per this Huffington Post article, because the amount of cash was “unusual” TSA alerted other law enforcement who promptly seized the cash.

 

…the TSA did indeed alert airport police, who then notified federal agents of the stash of cash. Now, he says, the money becomes part of an asset forfeiture case, which Bell says is not uncommon at airports, but also not an everyday thing.

The worst part is officials seem rather proud of the fact the passenger was not charged with a crime and was allowed continue their journey. Completely minimizing the fact that the money was confiscated and the passenger probably never get it back even though they weren’t charged with a crime, thanks to asset forfeiture laws.

The $11,000 life savings of a college student confiscated at the Cincinnati airport last year has 13 agencies fighting for a cut. I can only imagine how many are interested in making sure this $75,000 isn’t returned.

So if you’re bringing anything valuable in your carry-on or checked bag be prepared to lose it if someone thinks its suspicious or thinks their agency could put it to better use. If you’re interested in seeing what states are the worst for civil asset forfeiture, the Institute for Justice has put together a report.

a map of the united states

And of course this still doesn’t answer the original troubling question as to whether the TSA has the right to post pictures/details of passenger’s belongings…

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3 Comments

  1. If no one or no group takes this case all the way to the supreme court to have these laws struck down then the government will continue to rob people of their money, they obviously are trying to control the way people move and store cash.. which is very devious indeed.

  2. Robbing a citizen of $75,000 is not even news. The government takes in way more than each milisecond by promoting inflation.

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