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While the cited behaviour is really astonishing, as a EU citizen, I must say that I still find it very curious that somebody drives around the country with that

While the cited behaviour is really astonishing, as a EU citizen, I must say that I still find it very curious that somebody drives around the country with that large amount of cash. I'd never (and most people here wouldn't either) travel with more than, say, $1000 in cash, and I would rely on ATM/electronic transactions/checks for additional money. Surely it wouldn't be illegal in any EU country that I know of (but in some countries there's a maximum allowed amount of cash you can use in any single transaction, something between EUR 1000 and 3000), but just any law enforcement would find such an amount of cash suspicious, and probably trigger an investigation.

Waterluvian 3y ago
As a Canadian I’ve wondered stuff like that too. What I think I’ve learned is that Americans can be deeply principled people. Beyond reasons like “I’m buying a used car” or “yes this is drug money” there’s also the reason of, “I’m doing it because it’s my right to.” And I’ve met many Americans who do things for no personal gain other than just to keep their rights exercised. I used to scoff at this kind of thing. But I think I’m slowly learning some of the inner mechanics of American Liberty.
- kickout 3y ago
  Correct. A lot but not all of these are likely legit drug seizures, but there should be absolutely no way LE has free reign like this. Physical cash/gold/asset possession should be protected by all countries IMO
passerby1 3y ago
> but just any law enforcement would find such an amount of cash suspicious, and probably trigger an investigation It feels like it's almost illegal to own cash when I read this. Would someone please tell why? It's OK to live in a debt, probably a very high one, buying expensive things like luxury car in credit. Is it forbidden to save cash? If it's OK, then why is it suspicious to travel in a car with cash?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- alanfranz 3y ago
  It is not forbidden, but certainly inconvenient. Get a burglar visit your home, and poof! Your savings are gone. Also, zero interest on those (admittedly less of a concern in the 2009-2022 era). Travel with car, drop the bag somewhere, or have an accident. Poof! Money gone. It’s just so inconvenient to move such amount of cash that I’d probably ask myself _why_ somebody would do that in 2023.
grogenaut 3y ago
The us doesn't have wide spread fast direct money transfer. So cash is a good way to get stuff done in many cases. Such as buying a car.
- bloody-crow 3y ago
  But you can literally walk into a branch of your bank with a debit card and withdraw that amount in like 5 minutes. The only reason to carry this much cash across multiple state lines I can imagine is him not wanting to leave a paper trail and withdrawing large amounts outside of his home state.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - grogenaut 3y ago
    What if your bank doesn't have a branch in colorado? Many people use regional banks. They're not going to let you pull 18k at an out of state bank.
deleted 3y ago
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jcpst 3y ago
The only reason I wouldn’t drive around with that much cash is because I don’t want the police to rob me. Seriously.
bloody-crow 3y ago
There's ample evidence that Bouldin was actually driving to Colorado to purchase marijuana products, hence cash. Still though, Colorado has ATMs. Maybe he didn't want to leave paper trail by withdrawing large amounts on cash outside of his home-state, I dunno. Also, marijuana still being federally illegal in 2023 is a joke.
- boomboomsubban 3y ago
  >There's ample evidence that Bouldin was actually driving to Colorado to purchase marijuana products, hence cash. What evidence? He said he planned to use some in Colorado, but that wouldn't necessitate $18k. I'm not sure it'd require any cash.
  - bloody-crow 3y ago
    This comment has it summarized neatly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36386584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36386584
- mdasen 3y ago
  Accounts generally have a daily withdrawal limit at ATMs. If you're traveling with $18,000 in cash, that's probably well above what you can withdraw from an ATM in a day. I think a lot of accounts have ATM limits of $300-1,000 per day. I'm sure there are ones that are higher and I think a lot of banks let you request a higher limit, but I think it's probably more than just a paper trail. Personally, I'd never travel with that much cash, but I could see withdrawing that amount of cash having potential road blocks if your bank doesn't exist in the state you're traveling to.
throwaway22032 3y ago
As a Brit, the only reason I _don't_ use cash for virtually everything is that ants like you find it "suspicious" and so it causes me a ton of social friction.
ftyers 3y ago
Disagree, I've gone around plenty of times with over 1000€, mostly to avoid paying cash machine fees, and to avoid dealing with banks in a lot of places, there is nothing strange about it at all.

Waterluvian 3y ago

As a Canadian I’ve wondered stuff like that too. What I think I’ve learned is that Americans can be deeply principled people. Beyond reasons like “I’m buying a used car” or “yes this is drug money” there’s also the reason of, “I’m doing it because it’s my right to.” And I’ve met many Americans who do things for no personal gain other than just to keep their rights exercised. I used to scoff at this kind of thing. But I think I’m slowly learning some of the inner mechanics of American Liberty.

kickout 3y ago
Correct. A lot but not all of these are likely legit drug seizures, but there should be absolutely no way LE has free reign like this. Physical cash/gold/asset possession should be protected by all countries IMO

passerby1 3y ago

> but just any law enforcement would find such an amount of cash suspicious, and probably trigger an investigation It feels like it's almost illegal to own cash when I read this. Would someone please tell why? It's OK to live in a debt, probably a very high one, buying expensive things like luxury car in credit. Is it forbidden to save cash? If it's OK, then why is it suspicious to travel in a car with cash?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
alanfranz 3y ago
It is not forbidden, but certainly inconvenient. Get a burglar visit your home, and poof! Your savings are gone. Also, zero interest on those (admittedly less of a concern in the 2009-2022 era). Travel with car, drop the bag somewhere, or have an accident. Poof! Money gone. It’s just so inconvenient to move such amount of cash that I’d probably ask myself _why_ somebody would do that in 2023.

grogenaut 3y ago

The us doesn't have wide spread fast direct money transfer. So cash is a good way to get stuff done in many cases. Such as buying a car.

bloody-crow 3y ago
But you can literally walk into a branch of your bank with a debit card and withdraw that amount in like 5 minutes. The only reason to carry this much cash across multiple state lines I can imagine is him not wanting to leave a paper trail and withdrawing large amounts outside of his home state.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- grogenaut 3y ago
  What if your bank doesn't have a branch in colorado? Many people use regional banks. They're not going to let you pull 18k at an out of state bank.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

jcpst 3y ago

The only reason I wouldn’t drive around with that much cash is because I don’t want the police to rob me. Seriously.

bloody-crow 3y ago

There's ample evidence that Bouldin was actually driving to Colorado to purchase marijuana products, hence cash. Still though, Colorado has ATMs. Maybe he didn't want to leave paper trail by withdrawing large amounts on cash outside of his home-state, I dunno. Also, marijuana still being federally illegal in 2023 is a joke.

boomboomsubban 3y ago
>There's ample evidence that Bouldin was actually driving to Colorado to purchase marijuana products, hence cash. What evidence? He said he planned to use some in Colorado, but that wouldn't necessitate $18k. I'm not sure it'd require any cash.
- bloody-crow 3y ago
  This comment has it summarized neatly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36386584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36386584
mdasen 3y ago
Accounts generally have a daily withdrawal limit at ATMs. If you're traveling with $18,000 in cash, that's probably well above what you can withdraw from an ATM in a day. I think a lot of accounts have ATM limits of $300-1,000 per day. I'm sure there are ones that are higher and I think a lot of banks let you request a higher limit, but I think it's probably more than just a paper trail. Personally, I'd never travel with that much cash, but I could see withdrawing that amount of cash having potential road blocks if your bank doesn't exist in the state you're traveling to.

throwaway22032 3y ago

As a Brit, the only reason I _don't_ use cash for virtually everything is that ants like you find it "suspicious" and so it causes me a ton of social friction.

ftyers 3y ago

Disagree, I've gone around plenty of times with over 1000€, mostly to avoid paying cash machine fees, and to avoid dealing with banks in a lot of places, there is nothing strange about it at all.