US faces tough fight in cash smuggling crackdown

Jeanette Barraza-Galindo conspicuously left her bags of teddy bears and throw pillows on a bus during an inspection at the Texas-Mexico border and professed ignorance about the $277,556 officers found hidden inside. The crime she pleaded guilty to bulk cash smuggling is increasingly drawing the attention and resources of federal authorities responsible for fighting drug trafficking across the border.  Officials in both the U.S. and Mexico are realizing that criminal enterprises, just like other businesses, can't operate without a steady cash stream, said David Shirk, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, which promotes scholarship of border issues.  It's illegal to try to smuggle more than $10,000 in undeclared cash across the border. Officials say the crime is often connected to other illegal activities including drug trafficking, gambling and credit card fraud. Money that's seized is deposited into government forfeiture funds.  The Obama administration says targeting bulk cash smuggling is a prong of its strategy against transnational crime.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported more than $150 million in seized cash and 428 arrests in bulk cash smuggling investigations in fiscal year 2011, up from $7.3 million and 48 in fiscal year 2005, according to agency statistics. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has increased the size of the border patrol and begun screening more vehicle traffic and southbound rail traffic for weapons and cash since the Obama administration announced a new southwestern border initiative in March 2009, agency officials said at congressional hearings last year.  Barraza, the woman stopped with the stuffed animals and throw pillows last March, caught the attention of border patrol officers after she ignored instructions for passengers to remove belongings from the bus. She later pleaded guilty to illegally concealing the money, though charging documents don't explicitly state the motive. She was sentenced in September to two years in prison.