Posted by Andrew Luck
A Natural Born Person

Source: The Arizona Daily Star)By Stephen Ceasar, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
Mar. 8–Authorities are pushing to regulate what they say is a common method drug cartels use to move money across the border: stored-value cards.

A loophole in federal law lets people take the cards — which look like debit or credit cards — across the border freely.

The cards aren’t classified under federal law as a “monetary instrument,” which means holders don’t have to declare them. By contrast, anyone carrying more than $10,000 in cash across the border must declare it to customs officers.

Unlimited amounts of money can be put into accounts linked to the cards, making them attractive to smugglers looking to avoid increased scrutiny at ports of entry, authorities say.

Federal officials have no way of knowing how much money travels in and out of the United States on the cards because they have no way to track them. But Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard believes it’s millions, based on conversations with law-enforcement officials.

You may view the rest of the article at http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3926890