Baltimore CBP officers seize $70k in unreported currency from Chinese Ship Captain

BALTIMORE – The captain of the M/V Sheng Ning Hai is in hot water after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $70,737 in unreported currency in Baltimore on Jan. 22.

CBP conducted a routine enforcement boarding of the bulk freighter M/V Sheng Ning Hai after the vessel arrived in Baltimore on Wednesday. The vessel is owned by the COSCO Shipping Lines and is flagged in China. Its parent company is China's state-owned COSCO Shipping.

One element of these inspections is for the vessel’s captain to report to CBP officers how much currency the vessel carried. The vessel master did not report any currency to CBP officers.

Prior to boarding the vessel, CBP officers noticed that the master filed a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 105 submission for $34,480 during an earlier port call in Searsport, Maine. The FinCEN 105 is a currency reporting form, specifically a U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments form.

After departing the vessel, CBP officers learned that the vessel agent gave the vessel master an additional $40,000 while in Maine. The vessel master failed to report that additional $40,000 during the CBP inspection in Baltimore, nor did he amend his FinCEN 105 to reflect the new currency total.

CBP officers returned to the vessel on Thursday and conducted a more thorough examination of all spaces. Officers discovered a total of $70,737 in the purser’s safe. CBP officers seized the currency and released the vessel to continue its journey.

Commercial vessel captains are required to understand and comply with the laws of the nation where they make port calls. This vessel captain has made previous port calls to U.S. seaports and filed previous FinCEN 105s.

“It is rare to see a commercial ship captain deliberately violate our nation’s laws. But it is alarming criminal behavior that we expect by an adversarial nation that repeatedly uses commercial port calls at United States seaports to collect military intelligence and steal proprietary business information,” said CBP’s Acting Director of the Baltimore Field Office Matthew Suarez. “CBP will continue to scrutinize the bad actors operating merchant vessels that are both flagged and operated by adversarial nations. We remain committed to protecting our nation’s security and economic vitality.”

Those entering and departing the United States may carry any amount of currency and other monetary instruments that they choose, but any amounts over $10,000 must be reported on the FinCEN 105.

CBP officers and agents seized an average of $152,418 in unreported or illicit currency every day along our nation’s borders during fiscal year 2024. See what else CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" last year.

CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.

Learn more at www.CBP.gov.

Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on X at X @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at Instagram @cbpfieldops.