Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the reality of airport cash seizures at BWI - not the sanitized version government websites present, not the bureaucratic fiction that "just explain yourself and you'll be fine," but the actual truth about what happens when federal agents take your money and how the system is designed to keep it.
The case caption tells you everything: United States v. $39,500 in U.S. Currency. Read that again. They're not suing you. They're suing your money. Your money is the defendant. Your money has to prove its own innocence. And your money can't speak, can't hire a lawyer, can't file paperwork. Only you can do that - and you have 35 days from a date that's already passed before you even opened the envelope.
This is the hidden architecture of civil asset forfeiture at BWI. The presumption of innocence that every American assumes exists? It doesn't apply here. The burden of proof that's supposed to rest on the government? It's on you. The right to your day in court? Ninety-three percent of airport currency seizures are processed without any judicial oversight whatsoever.
Your Money Is The Defendant - Not You
Heres the thing most people dont understand until its too late. In criminal court, the government has to prove your guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You sit there presumed innocent while they present there case. Thats the system everyone learns about in civics class.
Civil asset forfeiture flips this completely. Your not the defendant - your property is. The government files a case against your cash itself, as if hundred dollar bills can commit crimes. Because the case is "civil" rather then "criminal," you dont get the same constitutional protections. No presumption of innocence for your money. No public defender appointed to represent your currency.
When CBP agents seized $82,373 from a 79-year-old retired railroad engineer named Terrence Rolin at Pittsburgh airport, they werent arresting him. They were arresting his life savings. Rolin had committed no crime. His daughter was simply trying to fly with the money to deposit it in a bank. Didnt matter. The cash was detained, processed, and headed for permanent seizure until media attention forced the DEA's hand.
This isnt an aberration. Its the system working exactly as designed.
The 35-Day Clock Started Before You Knew
OK so heres were people get destroyed. After the seizure at BWI, the government mails a notice to your address. This notice contains deadlines, legal requirements, instructions for filing a "verified claim." The clock starts ticking from the postmark date - not when you recieve it, not when you read it, not when you understand what its asking.
Lets say the letter is postmarked January 1st. It arrives January 10th. You think "I have 35 days from when I got this." Wrong. You have 25 days. Maybe less if the mail was slow. By the time your googling "BWI cash seizure lawyer" and trying to figure out what a verified claim even is, half your deadline might already be gone.
Miss day 35? Administrative forfeiture. Thats the technical term for "the government keeps your money without ever going to court." No judge reviews the case. No hearing. No appeal. The lawyers at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland - not a neutral arbiter - decide the government had sufficient proof. Your money disapears permanantly.
This deadline is not negotiable. There is no extension. There is no "I didnt understand the letter." There is no mercy.
As Todd Spodek often explains to clients calling in panic - the first 48 hours after you recieve that notice matter more then anything else. Waiting to "think about it" or "research your options" can cost you everything.
What Really Happens When TSA Spots Your Cash
Theres a dirty secret about airport cash seizures that most people dont know. TSA - the Transportation Security Administration - actualy cant seize your money. They have no legal authority to take your currency. They screen bags for weapons and explosives, not for cash.
But heres the kicker. When TSA screeners spot a large sum of cash in your bag going through the X-ray machine, they make a call. They tip off Customs and Border Protection, DEA agents, Homeland Security Investigations, or local law enforcement. Someone with seizure authority shows up. TSA keeps there hands clean while facilatating the whole thing.
The person approaching you at the gate or in baggage claim isnt TSA. Its an undercover agent whos been waiting for the tip. The "friendly conversation" that follows? Its an interrogation. Every word you say becomes evidence. Your nervousness, your explanations, your attempt to prove your innocent - all of it goes into the forfeiture file.
Jerry Johnson learned this the hard way. He flew from Charlotte to Phoenix carrying $39,500 in cash to buy a truck at auction. Completly legal. No crime. When he landed, an undercover officer approached him in baggage claim. After an hour of questioning, Johnson was given a choice: sign a voluntary forfeiture agreement or be arrested.
He signed. He was never charged with any crime. The TSA still has his money.
The "Voluntary" Forfeiture Trap at BWI
Think about that for a second. Sign away your rights or go to jail. Thats the choice agents present to travelers at BWI and airports nationwide. Its coercion dressed up as cooperation.
When you sign that voluntary forfeiture form, your waiving everything. The right to contest the seizure. The right to judicial review. The right to ever get that money back. The form makes it look like your agreeing the money was connected to criminal activity, even if it wasnt. Even if you can prove exactly were every dollar came from.
Heres were it gets even worse. Signing the voluntary forfeiture dosent mean the investigation stops. The government can still pursue criminal charges later. All you've done is surrender your property AND potentially created evidence against yourself. The "voluntary" nature of it means you cant claim you were forced. The pressure tactics, the threats of arrest, the hour-long interrogation - none of that shows up in the paperwork.
At Spodek Law Group, weve seen dozens of these cases. The pattern is always the same: terrified traveler, aggressive agents, a form shoved in there face, and a "choice" thats no choice at all.
Why Most People Never Get Their Money Back
Let that sink in. Not "why people sometimes dont get there money back." Why MOST people never see there cash again.
The economics are brutal. Say CBP seized $12,000 from you at BWI - your tax refund, your business cash, whatever. To fight the forfeiture, you need a lawyer. An experienced forfeiture attorney might charge $5,000 to $15,000 to handle your case. Suddenly the math dosent work. Spending $10,000 to maybe recover $12,000 - with no garantee of success - is a losing proposition.
The government knows this. They count on it. Thats why the average seizure amount is calibrated to be just high enough to hurt you, but not high enough to make legal fees worthwhile. Its a system designed to exploit rational economic decision-making. You abandon your claim because fighting is mathmaticaly stupid. They keep your money because you made the sensable choice.
Meanwhile, the agencies profit directly from these seizures. Under "equitable sharing" programs, federal agencies keep a portion of forfeited funds. They have a financial incentive to seize, an incentive to make the process difficult, an incentive to target amounts that are economicaly irrational to contest.
This is why 93% of airport currency seizures never see a judge. Not because 93% of travelers are drug dealers. Because 93% of travelers either miss the deadline, file incorrectly, or realize the math dosent add up.
How BWI Became a Seizure Hotspot
Baltimore-Washington International isnt a random target. BWI handles routes to Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean destinations that federal agencies consider "high risk" for currency movement. This designation means enhanced scrutiny, more undercover agents, and disproportionate seizure rates compared to simaler-sized airports.
In just five weeks in 2021, CBP officers at BWI seized $80,388 in unreported currency across 15 incidents. Thats over $16,000 per week. Extrapolate that across a full year and your looking at nearly a million dollars from a single airport.
The DEA's Transportation Interdiction Program operated at BWI for years, seizing suspected drug money from passengers. Between 2022 and 2024, DEA agents nationwide seized more then $22 million under this program - but made only 57 arrests. Think about that ratio. Twenty-two million dollars seized. Fifty-seven people arrested. That means the vast majority of seizures happened without any criminal prosecution whatsoever.
In January 2025, the DEA finaly ended the program after an internal review found it was "outdated" and resulted in few arrests. The DOJ Inspector General had warned of "significant risk of constitutional violations." But heres the irony - less then a year later, DHS quietly restarted the exact same practices under different agency labels. Same tactics, diffrent badges.
If your flying through BWI with significant cash, you are being watched. The scrutiny hasnt decreased - its just changed hands.
The International Travel Trap: FinCEN 105
Heres a hidden connection most travelers dont make. If your carrying $10,000 or more in currency and crossing the U.S. border - even flying through BWI to an international destination - you must file a FinCEN 105 currency reporting form. Failure to report is itself a violation, seperate from whatever the cash was intended for.
This creates a legal trap. Dont report $10,000+? Seizure for failure to file. Do report it? You've just flagged yourself for enhanced scrutiny. Agents will want to know were the money came from, were its going, why your carrying cash instead of using a wire transfer.
The reporting requirement is a tool for seizure, not just compliance. It gives agents a reason to question you, a technical violation if you forgot or misunderstood, and documentation of your cash that follows you through the system.
Todd Spodek has seen clients lose money both ways - for reporting and for not reporting. The underlying assumption is that large cash equals criminal activity, even though carrying cash is completley legal.
The Drug Dog Deception
Theres another piece of this puzzle that most people dont understand. Drug-sniffing dogs are used at airports to establish "probable cause" for currency seizures. The dog alerts on your bag, and suddenly agents have legal justification to search and seize.
But heres the uncomfortable truth about these dogs. Studies have shown that up to 90% of all U.S. currency in circulation has detectable traces of cocaine on it. Not because everyone is a drug dealer - because cash passes through so many hands that contamination is virtualy universal. The drug dog isnt detecting your involvement with drugs. Its detecting the fact that your carrying cash.
This means the dog will basicly always alert on large sums of money. The "probable cause" is manufactured by the very nature of currency itself. Agents know this. Defense attorneys know this. The courts know this. Yet the practice continues because it provides legal cover for seizures that would otherwise be unconstitutional.
When an agent says "the dog alerted on your bag," what they really mean is "we found money and were taking it." The dog is just paperwork.
At BWI, drug dogs are regularly deployed in baggage areas and near gates servicing Caribbean destinations. The combination of "high risk" routes and an animal guaranted to alert on cash creates a seizure machine that runs on autopilot.
The Mistake Most People Make at the Airport
Lets talk about what happens in that moment when agents approach you. Your standing at the gate or in baggage claim. Someone in plain clothes shows a badge. They ask if you have cash. They seem friendly, conversational.
Most people make a critical error right here. They talk.
They think explaining themselves will clear things up. They say "its for a car purchase" or "I sold my coin collection" or "its my business receipts." They hand over documentation. They try to prove there innocent on the spot.
Every word becomes evidence. Every explanation goes into the agents report. Your nervous stammer, your inability to recall exact details, your contradicting yourself under pressure - all of it will be used to justify keeping your money.
Sound familiar? This is exactly what happened to Jerry Johnson. An hour of questioning. An hour of trying to explain why his money was legitimate. And at the end of it, a forfeiture agreement shoved in his face.
The right answer in that moment is simple but hard: "I'm excersizing my right to remain silent. I want to speak with an attorney." Nothing else. No explanations. No justifications. No helpfull details about were the money came from.
This feels counterintuitive. If your innocent, why not just explain? Because your explanations cant help you in that moment - they can only hurt you. The agent isnt going to hear your story and hand your cash back. The decision to seize has already been made. Your words are just additional ammunition for the forfeiture case.
What Defense Actually Looks Like
So what happens when you do fight back? When you hire a lawyer within those critical 35 days and file a proper verified claim?
First, the claim itself must be precise. Its a sworn statement under penalty of perjury asserting your ownership and intent to contest. Filed wrong and it can be rejected, treated as if never filed, and you lose by default. This isnt DIY territory.
Second, after your claim is filed, the government has 90 days to either return your money or file a civil forfeiture complaint in federal court. If they miss that deadline, the law requires them to give back your cash immediatly. Many cases settle in this window because the government dosent want to litigate.
Third, if it goes to court, your in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. This is federal litigation - expensive, time-consuming, but winnable. Your attorney can challenge the search itself, argue lack of probable cause, present documentation proving the legitimate source of funds.
The defenses that work include: innocent owner (you had no knowledge of illegal activity), unreasonable delay (government sat on the case too long), and illegal search and seizure (the stop or questioning violated your rights).
Cases like Terrence Rolin's prove that innocent people can recover seized cash - but only with aggressive legal representation and often significant media attention. The system dosent self-correct. It has to be forced.
The 193-Day Reality
Heres a number that dosent get enough attention: 193 days. Thats the average time it takes for a forfeiture case to reach resolution. More then six months. Some cases take years.
During this entire period, your money sits in a government account earning interest - for them. You have no access to funds you might desperatley need. Bills pile up. Opportunties pass. The car you were going to buy, the business deal you were going to close, the family emergency you were trying to handle - all of it waits while bureaucracy grinds forward.
This time delay is itself a weapon. The government knows that most people cant afford to wait 193 days, much less multiple years. They know the pressure of financial limbo forces settlements. They know people will accept 50 cents on the dollar just to end the nightmare.
Meanwhile, if you miss a single deadline during those 193 days - a filing date, a response requirement, a court appearance - you can forfeit by default. The asymetry is staggering. They can take years. You get 35 days just to start.
Why Spodek Law Group Handles BWI Seizure Cases
At Spodek Law Group, we understand the terror of watching agents walk away with your money. We know the panic when that notice arrives and the deadline is already half-gone. We've helped travelers at BWI and airports nationwide recover cash that was theirs all along.
What we bring to these cases:
Immediate action on deadlines. We know the 35-day window is everything. We file the verified claim correctly the first time, every time.
Experience with federal forfeiture procedure. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland handles hundreds of these cases annually. We know there patterns, there settlement tendencies, there pressure points.
Documentation strategy. Proving the legitimate source of funds is often the key. We know what evidence to gather - bank records, tax returns, business documentation, sale receipts - before the government claims you cant prove anything.
Negotiation leverage. Many forfeiture cases settle before trial. We fight to recover maximum value without dragging you through years of litigation.
The government has there process. But so do we.
The Clock Is Ticking
By the time your reading this, the deadline may already be running. That notice might be sitting in your mailbox, postmarked days ago, counting down toward administrative forfeiture.
Every day you wait is a day you lose.
The government spent years building there seizure operation at BWI. They have the agents, the procedures, the legal machinery to take your money and keep it. They process hundreds of forfeitures a year through sheer bureaucratic momentum.
You have 35 days - maybe less. You have one chance to file correctly. You have a narrow window before "administrative forfeiture" becomes permanent reality.
They've been preparing for this. You should be too.
Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The cost of waiting isnt.
