By Federal authorities are investigating nearly $700 million in U.S. currency detected by the Transportation Security Administration and flagged in passengers’ luggage departing from Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport over the past two years, according to officials familiar with the inquiry.
The cash — transported primarily by a small group of couriers of Somali descent — moved on routine international flights, most often routing through Amsterdam to Dubai. Travelers departing Minneapolis alone declared $342.37 million in 2024 and $349.4 million in 2025. Homeland Security officials said nationwide totals are likely significantly higher, citing similar patterns observed at airports in Seattle, Dallas, Columbus, and Atlanta.
“There are Somali couriers who…come to the airport almost daily with a million…in cash in their luggage…they were moving ~$350 million a year.”@jsolomonreports how money would then be transferred around the world, with Minnesota TSA fully aware and complicit in the fraud pic.twitter.com/xDbIhHQt1A
— Just the News (@JustTheNews) January 8, 2026
All of the cash movements were legally declared under U.S. Customs regulations, which require reporting for amounts exceeding $10,000. Still, the sheer volume raised repeated alarms. In some cases, bundles reached as much as $1 million in a single suitcase, prompting TSA screeners to repeatedly flag the transfers during routine inspections.To give you an idea of the size and scale of this operation, the entire GDP of Somalia is less than $14 billion, which means that 3-5% of the country’s wealth came from cash payments out of the United States.
According to investigators, billions have been stolen by Somali fraud rings in Minnesota while Tim Walz and the Democrats looked the other way, afraid of confronting a main funder of their party. The governor is currently facing investigation into his role and will soon testify before Congress.
BREAKING: TSA data reveal nearly $700 million in declared US cash flagged in luggage by Somali couriers departing Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and yet the Biden The White House told TSA to stand down.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security… pic.twitter.com/yTONUFUbRl
— Mike Netter (@nettermike) January 12, 2026
TSA personnel consistently referred the cases to Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations. Officials, however, described limited follow-up during the prior administration. One senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said there was little authorities could do because the couriers’ paperwork was always in order. “There were concerns about what was going on,” the official said, adding that it may take congressional action to change the law before federal agencies can fully intervene or halt the practice.
Another official said inquiries directed to Minnesota authorities frequently resulted in accusations of racism when questions were raised about activities involving Somali immigrants, complicating local cooperation.
Just The News noted that the Somali couriers are believed to be part of a much larger system in which legal and illegal immigrants are moving tens of billions of dollars a year out of the United States via flights or remittance payment vendors.
Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek told Just the News more than $200 billion leaves the United States annually through remittances, with Mexico alone receiving over $52 billion and billions more heading to China, the Middle East and African nations. Some sizable portion of that involves illegal immigrants, most of whom crossed the border during the Biden years, he said.
“It has been found that at least $4.4 billion in remittances sent to Mexico have been tied to cartel money laundering through small wire transfers,” he said. “Cartels don’t sneak money across the border or throw the bag across the border. They wire it. And if we are serious about crushing cartels, we have to shut down their financial arteries.”
The flagged cash is now under active scrutiny by Homeland Security Investigations as part of a broader probe into an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud operation tied to Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community. Dozens of individuals from the community have already faced federal charges or convictions in related cases involving public benefits programs, according to officials.
Federal authorities emphasized that existing statutes grant TSA and related agencies limited power to stop large cash exports when proper declarations are filed. Officials suggested that meaningful enforcement may require new legislative tools from Congress to improve tracking, oversight, and intervention capabilities.
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