Sting operation nets $3.5m in smuggled cash

Washington:  A week-long operation among 83 countries turned up $3.5 million (Dh12.85 million) hidden in carry-on and checked bags as people smuggled illicit money across international borders.

The more than 70 cash seizures probably are proceeds of organised crime, said John Morton, US assistant secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The multinational crackdown conducted during the last week of October shows the commitment of criminal organisations to move money all over the world, Morton said, adding that he always is surprised by the creative ways people try to hide money.

"It's going on every day around us in literally every country around the world," he said.

For instance, last week's operation found: Cash hidden inside the padding of winter jackets packed in luggage in an airport in Eastern Europe. Silver coins stuffed in a rice cooker in a central European airport. "I'm sure right now someone is busily trying to figure out how to conceal money in an iPhone," Morton said.

World Customs Organisation Secretary-General Kunio Mikuriya said he was surprised to see so much money being smuggled in and out of Turkey. In a telephone interview, Mikuriya said these seizures could reveal information about routes connecting Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Latin America and North Africa. Morton said more than $500,000 was seized in Turkey, which was most likely associated with the drug trade.