The number of people stopped by border officials and found with undeclared cash is on the rise as Ottawa steps up efforts to crack down on money-laundering by criminal and terrorist groups.
Last year alone, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported 1,429 seizures and confiscated $24.5 million, amounting to a 28 per cent increase from 2013, when $19 million was seized in 1,117 incidents.
In addition to the undeclared cash seized, CBSA also took possession of $3.7 million in suspected proceeds of crime last year, twice the amount from the year before…
According to data obtained by the Star, Ontario, especially Greater Toronto, is the epicentre of these activities, with travellers in and out of the province accounting for $8.7 million and $9.6 million of the seized currencies in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Meanwhile, Ontario also got a lion’s share of the suspected proceeds of crime confiscated, $848,979 in 2013 and $2.4 million in 2014.
