Nearly 4,000 bongs, thousands in cash seized by agents at Washington, DC airport

Customs officers seized thousands in unreported cash and a shipment of nearly 4,000 glass bongs at one of Washington, D.C.’s major airports, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.

Officers from Customs and Border Protection found the unreported currency in a carry-on bag belonging to a married couple flying to Ghana from Dulles International Airport, about 28 miles west of Washington, D.C. The couple said they had a combined $10,500, but officers discovered another $23,641 in an envelope concealed under the bag’s zippered liner, the release said.

There’s no limit to how much currency travelers are allowed to bring in or out of the United States, but federal law requires travelers to declare how much they have if it exceeds $10,000, the release said.

Officers seized the money and released the couple with $641 “as a humanitarian relief,” the release said. The couple was not criminally charged.

In another instance, CBP officers detained a shipment of 3,378 glass bongs from China, labeled as “gravity pipes.” Import specialists estimated that the shipment was worth $56,033 and determined that the bongs — water pipes often used to smoke marijuana — violated laws on transporting “drug paraphernalia” into the U.S..

The bongs were headed to an address in Los Angeles, the release said.

This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Nearly 4,000 bongs, thousands in cash seized by agents at Washington, DC airport."