Passenger loses €21,390 after customs seize undeclared cash

Customs officials have seized €21,390 from a passenger, at Malta International Airport after he failed to declare the money.

Officials were carrying out checks at the airport departure lounge when a passenger boarding a flight for Amman, Jordan, was escorted to the office. Upon searching his belongings, it was revealed that the man was carrying €31,390 in undeclared cash.

€10,000 was then returned to the passenger, whilst the rest was seized pending an investigation. 

Legislation dictates that any amount of cash over €10,000 has to be declared to customs. There is no limit to how much cash is carried by a passenger as long as it is declared to customs.  

According to customs, so far, this year, 29 cases were detected, with €790,824 of undeclared cash having been seized.