US customs tells hair-raising stories
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at the Dallas Fort Worth port of entry recently intercepted two separate shipments from Nigeria, containing a combined USD 63,000 in counterfeit currency.
In April, officers selected a box of wigs and hair for examination. When they opened the packages, stacks of counterfeit USD 100 bills and USD 50 bills were hidden within the hair.
The most recent seizure occurred on 7 May 2020, when CBP officers selected a shipment containing two soft cover books for examination. When officers flipped the books' pages in the opposite direction, they found currency in denominations of USD 50 and USD 100 taped to the books' inside pages. On a typical day in fiscal year 2019, CBP officers seized USD 207,356 in undeclared or illicit currency. (ah)