On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:51:36 +0100, William Black wrote:

And if you notice, there appears to be situations where people leaving
the US via plane are somehow intercepted by CBP somewhere in the airport
before departure and grilled about the money they are carrying. I'm
especially curious about how that happens...

Like I said, it only seems to be a problem in the USA.


But these are new and have only appeared in the past year or so.

I do recall once (1998), when leaving EWR -- FRA that CBP (then just US Customs)
had set up a station right at the gate to check people leaving for FRA. They
were in plain clothes (jeans, etc.) but with badges/side arms etc., and they
appeared to be picking people at random from the boarding lines to be held
for a search of their carry ons at the tables they set up. Thankfully, they didn't
pick me... Not that they would have found anything, but being "selected" for that
kind of searching while the aircraft is actually boarding truly sucks! They were
notorious for that at NRT. I hated it. You had to develop some skill in where
you placed yourself in the boarding line so that the stations would be full by
the time your turn came). Not that said skill always worked. If they wanted you,
they'd hold you until a station became available.

In the above EWR--FRA case, I think CBP was looking for money/financial
instruments. In the other places, it was a security check.

____________________________________________
Regards,

Arnold