
I thought this might be of interest to cypherpunks: The threshold for reporting New York money transfers was apparently quietly lowered to $750 last month. Looks like all it took was one order signed by one Treasury official -- eek. Can they lower the $10k cash threshold just as easily? * NYT Sunday April 13, 1997 * * U.S. Seizes $5.6 Million Hidden in a Truck on Way to Mexico * By Sam Dillon * * Mexico City, April 12 - United States officials said today that * $5.6 million discovered this week in a truck about to cross into * Mexico from El Paso was the largest cash seizure in memory along * the southwest border. * [snip] * * ...probably the proceeds of street drug sales... * [snip] * * Officials have seen a big increase in cash seizures lately... * [snip] * * In [another] case the authorities believe the traffickers * chose to move the cash south out of New York in bulk by * car because of an order signed by Mr. Kelly [Treasury * Under Secretary Raymond W. Kelly] which required New York * businesses transmitting cash to report all transactions * over $750. * * Although the order was not announced, word spread quickly * among traffickers, and a dramatic drop in money wires to * Colombia followed, along with a sharp increase in seizures * of cash along the eastern seaboard. Thanks to <guy@panix.com> for forwarding.