Date: May 13, 2013. Jurisdiction: State of Tennessee.
A "currency violation"?
Note: state or county law enforcement or police electing to enforce federal currency laws (only because they will get paid for it--not because of their state's laws). Around 4:46 note the response: 80% goes to State, 20% goes to Feds.
Actually banks aren't always the safest place to keep money. From first hand witness, bank staff steal money all the time (doesn't seem to matter what continent or country), taking money out bit by bit hoping you don't notice. Not to mention the dangers of getting arrested for taking out large sums of money at the bank. From experience and observation and IMHO the best place to keep large sums of cash is in a safe in one's home--one that only oneself knows about.
The idea of drug dealers being unsophisticated is a major hoax. They make lots of money and are smart enough to pay for help and advice (remember drug users are from many walks of life and professions--attorneys, computer programmers, telephone company executives, bank executives, doctors, etc. --not just strippers and struggling artists). TBH, it is more likely that a primary 'drug mule' (working for someone else) will travel to a border state, take on a load, bring it back to their hometown and get paid a fee for the delivery service back home with the transaction between the purchaser and the seller being handled through some other (stealth?) means (i.e. smaller payments sent back to the seller once cash is collected from distributors and potentially disguised as some other kind of payment: such as an online gambling win). The big players aren't going to risk having $20M in cash confiscated...they've already decided that.
So basically, targeting people carrying cash on highways as a means to eliminate drug trafficking seems like a very fishy excuse. In fact, someone carrying large sums of cash is more than likely going to be relocating (i.e. moving from town to town and therefore taking their cash with them) or doing legitimate business in cash (lots of businesses still prefer to do business in cash or at least partially cash: ASK ANY CAR DEALERSHIP). Also, when going on a long road trip who doesn't take cash or debit cards in large enough amounts to cover emergencies and expenses? If your ATM card stops working or your room-mate hacks your account while you're in the middle of New Mexico cash can be key. So basically "geniuses" in Oklahoma, Florida and Texas are suggesting they would find it suspicious for you to not be stupid enough to take a road trip without carrying enough cash or debit cards for an emergency. Basically people are being robbed under the guise of "official business" for not being stupid. Since most people aren't involved in drug trafficking and since most anyone on a long trip will carry sufficient amounts of cash for emergency, who are they really targeting?
IMHO, when traveling by automobile, keeping money its better to keep large sums of cash in portable safe rather than in a plastic bag.
Hmmm...I wonder how "seize-able" money would be if it was stamped redeemed for lawful money and a corresponding "redemption certificate" served on Treasury accompanied the bundle (also in your safe). The scam on Americans is that: drug dealers have lawyers and often they are of the best lawyers in any given region. The idea of the typical drug dealer being some isolated, stupid criminal is a hoax--they more often than not have cream-of-the-crop criminal lawyers meaning they probably aren't clueless about how to handle cash.
[See also video in the post immediately above.]
Related:
The Myth of the Rule of Law
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