BOSTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The smuggling of cash into and out of the United States is growing quickly, figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicate.
Economic hard times are thought to be behind the soaring rates of "hot cash" smuggling, the seizure of which, customs data indicates, rose 50 percent, from about $50 million to $75 million, between 2005 and 2008, The Boston Herald reported Sunday.
This summer has been a very active time for cash smuggling in New England, the newspaper said. Thirty-five seizures totaling $856,119 were made in the region between June 1 and Aug. 12, the data shows.
"We do not know why there is such a huge increase in the number of seizures this past summer," Ted Woo, spokesman for the Boston Field Office of CBP, told the Herald, saying it may be because of tighter inspections at border crossings or more people trying to sneak money overseas due to the recession.
Also, officials say drug dealers and terrorists are turning to cash to make payments because authorities are better able to trace their banking activities, the newspaper said.
