Representing Individuals Nationwide Free Consultation U.S. Customs and Money Seizure Many American citizens traveling abroad are unaware of the requirement to report the transportation of U.S. or foreign currency. In fact, U.S. law requires that any currency or other monetary equivalents that exceed a $10, threshold must be reported directly to U.S. Customs and Border Security prior to entering or leaving the country. The consequences for violating the law can be severe, and may include the seizure of the assets as well as other penalties. In a global environment of escalating crime and the threat of terrorism, U.S. Customs agents are particularly sensitive to large, unreported sums of cash entering or leaving the country. Can I Get My Money Back? Our attorneys are regularly able to recover the monies you had seized. Offering nationwide legal assistance, we will prepare the administrative petitions and negotiate with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to see that you are returned your seized cash. Our firm is so confident that we will succeed we offer a No Fee Guarantee*. Thus, you will not owe our firm an attorney fee if we cannot recover your money. If your Petition has already been denied, and your circumstances warrant it, we can even appeal your case to federal court. Our Goal is to Get You Your Money Back.

Time is of the essence, Call Now! If your cash or property was seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and you fail to act in a timely manner, then you will automatically lose. Time is of the essence, and in most cases you must file a petition within 30 days of the seizure notice. Nationwide call our Attorneys at for a free consultation. Postal Inspection Service Did you know that the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) can seize packages in much the same manner as United States Customs and Border Patrol (USCBP)? Just as USCBP can seize any illicit property at an airport or border crossing, USPIS can seize illicit property that goes through the U.S. Mail. The United States Postal Inspection Service is an old but little known branch of United States law enforcement. Just like any other law enforcement agency, USPIS can serve and execute warrants, make arrests, and more. With a warrant, USPIS can open and inspect first class mail.Time is usually of the essence with postal investigations, so warrants are often obtained and issued quickly. To get a warrant, the officer need only convince a judge or magistrate that there is probable cause the letter or package is involved with a crime. In general, probable cause roughly amounts to reasonable likelihood – for example, a simple alert by a drug dog often satisfies this requirement. Such an alert would thus give USPIS authority to search that package, resulting in at least a delay in mailing if not an outright seizure or arrest. Moreover, USPIS can inspect other classes of mail without a warrant, since they are not considered private correspondence. USPIS inspects mail to search for mail fraud, weapons, weapons, harmful or terrorism-related materials, and narcotics. first class mail. other classes of mail If USPIS finds that a package or letter has been mailed in violation of a certain federal law—like anti-terrorism statutes, fraud laws, or narcotics regulations—the suspect piece of mail will be

seized. In 2012 alone, USPIS seized assets valued at $54.6 million dollars. Such seizure is authorized by federal law and occurs via the same lengthyand complicated process as that which governs seizures by USCBP. So why does this all matter to an average, law-abiding citizen? The United States Postal Servicereceives massive volumes of mail daily, and monitoring that much material presents an often daunting task. One way of taking on this massive monitoring project is through generalized, or dragnet tactics, such as employing drug dogs. While this tactic is effective in this context, it can also be over-inclusive – for example, almost all U.S. currency contains trace amounts of narcotics. These trace amounts are often enough to alert drug dogs, giving USPIS grounds to seize your cash as drug money. Thus, postal inspections can often cause problems for people trying to mail cash. Mailing cash is entirely legal, and there are no reporting requirements to domestically send money. But if any drug dog picks up scents of narcotics on that money, it may be a long road to getting that money back. According to the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, most mail that is seized by USPIS for an alleged narcotics law violation is sent from places like Southern California, Puerto Rico, and towns on the U.S./Mexico border. This mail is most often sent to places like Richmond, Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and New York.If you’re sending or receiving mail in any one of these areas, it is likely to be more heavily monitored by USPIS, and you may be at a higher risk for such a seizure. Locations DETROIT: Garmo & Kiste, PLC 50 W. Big Beaver Road, Suite 240 Troy, Michigan Telephone: (877) Fax: (248) SEATTLE: 100 Andover Park W, Suite 150 Tukwila, Washington Telephone: (877) Fax: (248)