Mother and Teen Daughter Caught Smuggling Money!

[pErvinalia]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/ ... bid-678921

So, mother and daughter smuggle money in their bras. Arrested. Government takes money.

LOL. Their crime -- "not declaring" the money while traveling.

This sort of thing has pissed me off for many years now. The same thing goes on here in the US, so it's not a slam on Canada per se (this incident occurred in Canada), but I always thought it was a bit un-American to have to "declare" your money to the government just because you're getting on a plane.

It's our fucking money. If I want to travel with it in a suitcase, the government can go kiss my ass. IMO.

This is just a way for them to prosecute people without actually having the goods on anyone. What crime did these two women commit apart from "having money and not telling the government about it?" None that they know of.

IMO, these laws ought to be eliminated.

I haven't read the article, but I understand these laws to be generally about avoiding wealth drain from a country. Not so much of a problem for the US, I imagine, but in places like South Africa and others, it is a real problem. And actually, thinking about this more, am I right in thinking that the US will tax any earnings/investments made abroad? If so, making that investment by shuffling bags of cash out of the country will not leave a paper trail that the authorities need to determine when one is investing/earning abroad.

[Coito ergo sum]

Why would we care? It's not really smuggling to conceal cash, which isn't contraband.

If you don't declare something that is required to be declared, it's smuggling. The customs form has a slot for "how much cash do you have with you?"

Obviously -- but that doesn't mean that every declaration requirement is reasonable or appropriate. I know the customs form has the slot that says how much cash do you have. That's the question I'm objecting to. It's no answer to merely say "well, they require you to declare it" -- a requirement is not evidence of its own propriety.

They shouldn't be asking people to "declare" stuff. Search -- if they think you have some contraband. Requiring declarations is a short-cut, so they can convict people of failing to declare when required instead of actually having something illegal on them.

How many underpants did you pack in your luggage?

Five, sir.

Ah, we count 10. So, you're smuggling contraband underpants and you've falsified your customs form. Two felonies.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Another deviation from reality from C.E.S.

It is fun talking to someone who thinks there's something to win here.

[Hermit]

El-Asmar told agents that she “concealed the money for safety” and only declared $3300 at the border crossing because she did not want her boyfriend to know she was so flush.

Like carrying $78,000 worth of banknotes in your and your daughter's bra is less noticeable than transporting it electronically?

She claimed to have retrieved the currency from her bank safety deposit box, adding that her primary sources of income are her “disability checks and her paper route.”

What a frugal person. Or are incomes from disability cheques and paper routes more generous than I've ever suspected?

There's a reason why having to declare the carrying of cash over a certain amount is mandatory. The possibility of going to Lebanon in order to, say, buy some "Lebanese Blond" hashish, and returning with said product in order to supplement the already vast income gained through disability cheques and paper rounds is just one of them. Tax evasion is another.

I'm not saying El-Asmar's intent was either, but she knew she was breaking the law designed to make such activities more difficult. How many underpants do you need to smuggle out of the country to buy $78,000 worth of hash or evade a sizeable amount of tax?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

That's over two years income for me.

[Coito ergo sum]

Another deviation from reality from C.E.S.

It is fun talking to someone who thinks there's something to win here.

it's just a discussion -- if you think the law is just fine and dandy here, then that's a fine position to take. If you care to explain why, please do. If not, that's splendid. Or, you can just do your usual thing -- post little snarky snipes and douchy insults.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Another deviation from reality from C.E.S.

It is fun talking to someone who thinks there's something to win here.

it's just a discussion -- if you think the law is just fine and dandy here, then that's a fine position to take. If you care to explain why, please do. If not, that's splendid. Or, you can just do your usual thing -- post little snarky snipes and douchy insults.

The subject matter isn't nearly as important as you seem to think, but you make everything a life or death matter, over-the-topness is your speciality. It's rather funny.

[Coito ergo sum]

El-Asmar told agents that she “concealed the money for safety” and only declared $3300 at the border crossing because she did not want her boyfriend to know she was so flush.

Like carrying $78,000 worth of banknotes in your and your daughter's bra is less noticeable than transporting it electronically?

She claimed to have retrieved the currency from her bank safety deposit box, adding that her primary sources of income are her “disability checks and her paper route.”

What a frugal person. Or are incomes from disability cheques and paper routes more generous than I've ever suspected?

There's a reason why having to declare the carrying of cash over a certain amount is mandatory. The possibility of going to Lebanon in order to, say, buy some "Lebanese Blond" hashish, and returning with said product in order to supplement the already vast income gained through disability cheques and paper rounds is just one of them. Tax evasion is another.

I'm not saying El-Asmar's intent was either, but she knew she was breaking the law designed to make such activities more difficult. How many underpants do you need to smuggle out of the country to buy $78,000 worth of hash or evade a sizeable amount of tax?

All that is a very good reason for the government to investigate her.

When the government can prove she's smuggling hashish, throw the book at her, IMO.

[Coito ergo sum]

Another deviation from reality from C.E.S.

It is fun talking to someone who thinks there's something to win here.

it's just a discussion -- if you think the law is just fine and dandy here, then that's a fine position to take. If you care to explain why, please do. If not, that's splendid. Or, you can just do your usual thing -- post little snarky snipes and douchy insults.

The subject matter isn't nearly as important as you seem to think, but you make everything a life or death matter, over-the-topness is your speciality. It's rather funny.

You have an active imagination, sonny.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And you have no sense of humor.

[MrJonno]

Is having money on you evidence of a crime?

Possibly , its like going around with a mask and a bag labelled swag while wandering down a street after dark. It's not illegal but it is suspicious and reasonable suspicion is all you need to arrest someone

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Large quantities of conceal cash, undeclared. Nope, can't see any reason to be suspicious there.

[Coito ergo sum]

Is having money on you evidence of a crime?

Possibly , its like going around with a mask and a bag labelled swag while wandering down a street after dark. It's not illegal but it is suspicious and reasonable suspicion is all you need to arrest someone

So much fail here.

Reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed (or in the US "probable cause" that a crime is being or has been committed) is what is required to arrest someone. I don't know what country you're in, but in the US it would not be lawful for the cops to arrest you because you were wandering around with a mask on and carrying a bag labeled swag, even after dark. It might be reason to QUESTION you, but it would not be reason to ARREST you, or take your bag or mask.

Where you are, the cops can just arrest you for wearing a mask and carrying a bag? Must be a horrible place to live.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They can take you into custody for questioning. If you resist the officers they can arrest you for that.

[Coito ergo sum]

Large quantities of conceal cash, undeclared. Nope, can't see any reason to be suspicious there.

The government manufactures the requirement to "declare" it. If the government didn't have the requirement to declare the money, there would be no suspiciousness in her failure to declare.

And, I think it is bullshit for the government to require all these declarations - they amount to forcing us to testify against ourselves. That's unAmerican, and unCanadian.