Sniffing Out Billions In US Currency Smuggled Across the Border To Mexico 158
An anonymous reader writes "Criminals smuggle an estimated $30 billion in U.S. currency into Mexico each year from the United States, most of it laundered drug money. But researchers say help is on the way for border guards in the form of a portable device that identifies specific vapors given off by U.S. paper money. "We're developing a device that mimics the function of trained dogs 'sniffing' out concealed money, but without the drawbacks, such as expensive training, sophisticated operators, down time and communication limitations," says Suiqiong Li, Ph.D., a member of the research team behind the technology. When developing the device, the researchers first had to figure out which gases money emits and how fast that happens. It turned out that the gases are a set of trace chemicals, including aldehydes, furans and organic acids." What do bitcoins smell like?
Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Score:3)
Grandma (Score:4, Funny)
The can sniff out $41,000 [detroitnews.com] in grandma's bra but they can't find pallets of cash going across the border.
Re: (Score:2)
What would Ray Bradbury say? (Score:2)
Bitcoins? (Score:5, Funny)
Despair, irony, and a touch of vermouth.
Re: (Score:2)
I was going to go with shame and regret.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No, those smell like money sniffing dogs.
Re: (Score:2)
I thought dogecoin smelled like a dead horse that's been beaten to a thin paste of desperate attention grabs and herd mentality?
Re: (Score:3)
Just like Red Hat Linux 6.1 [archive.org] bitcoin is incompatible with magic smokeless CPUs.
Re: (Score:2)
I was thinking they smelled like a lost opportunity.
What about the CIA? (Score:4, Interesting)
We already know the CIA is very much involved in the Mexican drug trade, and I don't mean in the trying-to-stop-it department. Are those billions still going to be allowed to pass through?
Ah, who am I kidding. Of course they are. Because corrupt government has decided that it can do as it pleases.
Re: (Score:2)
The CIA doesn't do borders. They use Andrews Air Force Base for that sort of thing. (Or, at least that's the persistent rumor here in DC.)
Bitcoins smell like... (Score:1)
How to seriously stop drug money laundering (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.google.com/search?&q=banks+helping+drug+cartels
Added value (Score:1)
Armed with better detectors, border guards will demand a bigger cut from money launderers.
Easier option (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Which, you would think, would solve the problem of import of the cocaine and export of the money.
Of course, the problem becomes when you suddenly start finding CEOs and politicians jetting off to the Caymans with suitcases full of money they haven't declared.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
When bills are put through high speed money sorter/counters, one bill used to snort cocaine can put tiny amounts of cocaine on thousands of other bills.
Due to the chemical nature of cocaine, it can be detected in immensely small concentrations- far smaller than even the best dog can detect.
Bitcoins smell like (Score:2, Funny)
Neck beard and a superiority complex
Ah, damn it! (Score:5, Funny)
What do bitcoins smell like? (Score:2)
Ozone.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps the same could be said of all currencies
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Wont matter (Score:5, Insightful)
Problem here is they are not looking for anything that is evidence of a crime. It is legal to carry money over the border up to a certain amount so, the smell of money doesn't actually indicate any crime, and isn't evidence of any crime.
Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to justify expenditures on cool new technology which will be quickly mothballed after its found to be useless or ruled by the courts to not be justification for extra scrutiny.
Re: (Score:2)
Think harder. Large pile of bills will have gasses in higher concentration. hundreds or thousands of bills are not normal, they can check out individual cases of those.
Re: (Score:3)
If it can't tell the difference between $9999 and $10,000 then its not good enough in my book. Then again, I can't think of any good reason to limit the cash people can travel with. However, protecting people from unreasonable search is more important by far than anything they are otherwise triying to do...it is supposed to be, one of their highest priorities!
Re:Wont matter (Score:4, Informative)
There's no limit on how much cash you can carry across the border - you just need to declare it if you have over $10k.
Re: (Score:2)
Seems the point still remains, if it can't tell the difference between 1 unit less than 10k and 10k or more, then its a useless test; and certainly not specific enough to expose someone to the very real dangers of extra scrutiny.
Re: (Score:2)
That's what the TSA agent told me about 5 times while searching my carry on bag on the jet-way while other passengers struggled past and gawked at me. Also that if I didn't declare I had cash in there, they'd seize it.
Her dog looooooved my bag. Unfortunately it didn't have any money in it, just residual dog from my friend's house.
So yeah, I just hope this device is more accurate than the pups :)
Re: (Score:2)
That wasn't TSA, it was CBP (Customs and Border Patrol).
Re:Wont matter (Score:4, Funny)
rub it on your crotch for a really good time when travelling
Re: (Score:1)
Bunny, ball ball.
Re: (Score:2)
Crossing US borders, you don't want any extra attention - it is the one place you can be sure it'll be properly uncomfortable.
Like that 1 time we ended up having to hear 1 border-guard's story of how he married his wife in Germany (no idea why), and then later divorced her - very uncomfortable.
Re: (Score:2)
well duh, he thought he was always supposed to have textured latex gloves on anytime he put his finger in someone's various orifices. most wives don't want that kind of foreplay
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
But less than 10k is not illegal and even quite common, as in, you can pretty much expect everyone is carrying some amount. As such, everyone should be expected to be putting off these gasses. So basically....this is just a prop that can be used to justify a search on anyone they want to search but don't want to give the real reason.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Wont matter (Score:5, Insightful)
Problem here is they are not looking for anything that is evidence of a crime. It is legal to carry money over the border up to a certain amount so, the smell of money doesn't actually indicate any crime, and isn't evidence of any crime.
Won't stop them from seizing it anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
I've always wondered how that was legal. I understand seizing it as evidence (pending a trial), but simple forfeiture is a very clear violation of the 5th Amendment
Re: (Score:2)
Or, we could make it not illegal to, you know, carry large wads of cash, deposit huge amounts of money in your bank account, etc.
Or we could vacuum pack the bills, and fold that up into the money belt or suitcase.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I fully support making it legal to not do the paperwork. In fact, I fully support making it a felony for a border agent to even ask how much money you have on you.
Re: (Score:2)
The scary thing is, that's my best case scenario. Worst case? It's used for witch hunts. We have warrantless spying now, do you think they'll put this down once it's pushed back by a court? Maybe it won't be used in court, but just enough to justify "extra scrutiny" of someone, put them on a watchlist
Decriminalize Drugs to defund terrorists and gangs (Score:4, Insightful)
The result of the puritanical and hypocritical war on drugs has been countless lives lost, Billions and Billions spent on fruitless efforts and a strengthening of criminal gangs and terrorist groups which aren't shy about using thuggery and corrupting law enforcement and the government in order to make money. People suffer and as long as nobody is committing fraud in what they are selling, then people should be able to buy whatever rat poison they want and do with it what they want. People have a right to their own bodies. When drug use gets out of hand then civil commitment and medical care are what is needed, not police, courts and jails.
I agree (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Decriminalization isn't good enough; legalize them.
Re: (Score:2)
If you did that, where would the NSA get their secret funding, and how much more would we need to increase various enforcement budgets that are largely financed by seized assets?
Trace chemicals (Score:2)
No! Gases are chemicals! Who knew!
Exclusive interview with Lassie in bread-line... (Score:1)
What does MY money smell like? (Score:4, Informative)
I'm far more concerned, whether the smell of my honestly-earned money is any different from that of the laundered drug proceeds. I suspect, the smell is exactly the same and, should I ever choose to cross the border with substantial cash, these devices will point me out. A major loophole in American (and English) legal system, allows seizure of "suspect" assets [wzzm13.com] even if the person himself can not be arrested.
Now, why would an honest citizen need to carry his cash with him?.. Oh, well...
Re: (Score:3)
> Now, why would an honest citizen need to carry his cash with him?.. Oh, well...
That certainly seems to be the attitude of the aristocracy here. Maybe they should ask the 78 year old German woman who was caught traveling with $40k on her person.
Thank god these thugs are out there...protecting us from old women who don't trust banks! Just think what might have happened if she hadn't been caught. I, for one, am glad our jack booted border enforcers have no fear of the geriatric maffia. Kudos to them for s
Re: (Score:2)
Re:What does MY money smell like? (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually she did fill out the form. Its just that the number she gave verbally didn't match. I don't know about you, but I consider it unreasonable to expect people to be able to randomly come up with and remember numbers like that since... well I know a lot of humans and evidence shows its something most of us are terrible at....and many people at the age of 78 have particular trouble with.
And...well...fuck the law. There is no reason for this law, I personally judge it unjust and personally hold that against every person who chooses to continue doing a job that involves enforcing such a law. In my eyes they are the criminals and she is innocent.
Re: (Score:2)
And there is nothing wrong with mandatory ID-carrying either, is there? "Papers please" much?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
fuck you and your boot-licking mentality
Replying to AC is pointless, but I can't resist just this once. Some day you'll grow up and realize that not everyone in the world shares your exact ideas for how everything should work. Sometimes those people have power, and yes, sometimes you have to fill out their forms. That's just the way it is, so lighten up; this isn't exactly the holocaust.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you're traveling with more than $10k, you just have to fill out one form declaring it.
Re: (Score:2)
I believe, that requirement — whatever its Constitutionality — applies only to people arriving into the US, not leaving. Indeed, you aren't declaring anything upon leaving — neither the Customs nor Border Patrol have anything to do with passengers departing.
Also, it was introduced, when $10k meant a lot more money, than it does today. I don't know, when, exactly, but I do remember seeing it on the Cus
Re: (Score:2)
That's a customs form for people arriving with money. There is a related form for leaving the country. It's the same one you get when withdrawing more than $10k in cash from a bank, or even buying into a blackjack table. It just documents your identity so that if that money ends up as part of a money laundering scheme, the feds can find you.
Re: (Score:2)
I was never asked the question of how much cash I'm carrying. Nor have I ever — in 20+ years of being an American — been made aware of having to declare such sums.
What if it is simply my savings — stored in a jar?
That's a good argument to have one's DNA registered — at birth. In case it ever ends up inside a rap
Defeated by Food Saver (Score:2)
Hook up the Food Saver or VacuVita to a bag full of stacked, tied bills. Then put the whole vacuum-packed, heat-sealed bag into your suitcase lining, hidden compartment, or money belt.
Re: (Score:2)
Are vacuum packages that tight?
I would have always thought yes -- I have a Food Saver and it works miracles for food storage, especially meat in the freezer. But I could swear I've read that drug dogs smell right through them, even double-bagged, which seems to be kind of weird. I would assume that holding a decent vacuum would prevent anything from escaping.
Pikers (Score:2)
buy stock (Score:2)
smuggled across the border? (Score:2)
Just put those sniffers in every HSBC branch. Or better yet, put those sniffers in the HSBC corporate boardroom. The "money laundering" they want to stop is happening at the upper levels of management, and yet, not a single banker will *ever* go to jail for laundering.
Instead, the bank will pay some measly fine which won't even be 10% of what they made doing the crime. Crime absolutely pays and pays big, assuming you're already a multi-billion-dollar corporation that can buy politicians, buy law enforcement
Clearly... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Um, HSBC _is_ a foreign bank.
Real Solution (Score:4, Informative)
The real solution, of course, is to legalize marijuana nationally, thus drying up demand for the cartels main cash crop.
But oh, we can't do that, because it would put so many DEA agents and overpaid government contractors out of work!
So, they come up with not-even-half-assed solutions that sound good in a press release, and end up being nothing more than yet another tool of citizen subjugation over the long run.
Re: (Score:2)
But oh, we can't do that, because it would put so many DEA agents and overpaid government contractors out of work!
Not to mention a large number of private companies that own and operate prisons for the government. For those companies, mo' "criminals" = mo' money.
Re: (Score:2)
But oh, we can't do that, because it would put so many DEA agents and overpaid government contractors out of work!
At this point they can be re-tasked to nicotine prohibition.
OR, and I know this is a stretch, they could be re-tasked to actual, important work, like border security, or laid off because their jobs are unnecessary. But then, I'm one of those "crazy Libertarian types" who believes what substances a person chooses to put into their bodies is their choice, not the governments.
Re: (Score:2)
I can't speak for the laws, but the claim that no one's buying, and thus has only 1 shop, is demonstrably false. While it's true there's only 1 shop, it just opened on July 8. 3 days later, they were completely sold out [seattlepi.com]
They issued the first 25 licenses this week [huffingtonpost.com], and most just haven't opened yet. You just have to give it some time.
Re: (Score:2)
Presumably, most growers would not be in Seattle, but in the more rural areas surrounding it. Same as any crop. Unless it's more difficult to transport than any other crop ever, the distance is no issue.
There are 50 growers in the state [seattlepi.com], and many more [khq.com] have applied (including a bunch in Seattle)
It LITERALLY just became legal, so everyone's still ramping up. (I'm not even going to bother responding to the Huffington comment)
Re: (Score:2)
You do understand that there's a delay between getting a license, and opening the doors of the business, right? The delay is usually (much) longer than a week.
Re: (Score:2)
And now the Democrats are fighting for even high prices for legal weed which will even more greatly increase the amount of money that will flood the cartels. Legalization only helps the drug dealers.
Anything but a Democrat here, as I like the money I earn. However, you're a complete moron to make statements like this. Cartels have been tracked murdering competition to keep supply rare. Legalization means locals/Americans get to supply Americans, not some jacked up cartel member.
Bitcoins smell like a scam (Score:2)
Bitcoins smell like ... (Score:2)
Business Opportunity? (Score:2)
Step 1. Buy Money Sniffer and position near highway.
Step 2. Advertise free "crossing guaranteed" inspections.
Step 3. Distract driver with free WiFi and coffee while source of odor is removed.
Step 4. Profit!
Re: (Score:2)
Other currencies (Score:2)
Do Euros smell the same as USD?
nobody uses cash anymore including the cartels (Score:4, Informative)
There's an easy solution (Score:2)
Just employ strippers as border patrol agents. They have an uncanny ability to sniff out money. They might even get the smugglers to voluntarily turn over some of it.
Additional heuristic (Score:2)
If it smells like Tide and fabric softener, it must be laundered money.
And they could add stuff... (Score:2)
And interesting specific yet easy to detect substances
could be added to money to make it easy to track from
one place to another. Each of the 12 reserve banks could
use a unique easy to detect substance....
One step beyond serial number records... and one step
beyond ultraviolet and edge stack marks.
Re: (Score:3)
... the traces of cocaine that can be found on every single U.S. treasury note.
Presumably the cocaine traces are thanks to this exact smuggling operation; someone gets clean money from their bank, buys some coke, the bill gets handed up and up and up the drug hierarchy and ends up in Mexico to be used mostly to pay gun runners for premium US goods, which then ends up back in circulation in the US. I wonder if they could not only find the money but deduce what kind of drug ring is behind it...
Re: (Score:1)
No.
The cocaine traces on bills are because of two things:
Dollar bills have long been used as a makeshift straw to snort cocaine.
Dollars bills used in this way then spread the traces of cocaine to other bills when they go through a money counting machine used at banks. The machine then becomes contaminated with cocaine, and spread it to all the other bills.
http://www.snopes.com/business/money/cocaine.asp
Re:Wrong problem to focus on (Score:5, Insightful)
There is not a lot of problems associated with drug money going to the Mexico.
30 billion a year going into the hands of violent drug cartels isn't a problem? I disagree.
On the other hand, waves of unskilled, poor, desperate people and who can't legally work here is a recipe for social problems that will last generations.
Are you American Indian? If not, from which wave of poor desperate immigrants did your family arrive?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Wrong problem to focus on (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
On the other hand, millions of American's are impacted by illegal immigration. From honest business owners who compete with businesses that hire illegal labor, to underfunded schools and social services, and of course the victims of crimes com
Re: (Score:2)
I haven't been impacted by illegal drug lords in Mexico, either here in the states or while traveling in Mexico. I have been impacted by getting stopped by the border patrol and their sniffing dogs. Sounds like money going to Mexican drug lords is a Mexican problem.
I guess you haven't figured out that a nation run by large violent drug cartels and a wave of immigration from that nation might be related. If you want to stop the poor immigrants from washing into our country (mind you, I'm not convinced that's a problem), then work to make Mexico less of a failed state, and that has to involve working against the drug cartels.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)