Feds probe hundreds of millions in suspected Somali cash in luggage leaving Minneapolis airport
Officials said most of the cash detected in luggage involved a small number of money couriers of Somali descent. The routine routes were to Dubai via Amsterdam, usually from Minneapolis but other times from Seattle, Dallas, Columbus and Atlanta.
By John Solomon
Published: January 6, 2026 10:54pm
Updated: January 6, 2026 11:15pm
The Transportation Security Administration flagged nearly $700 million in cash detected in passengers’ luggage leaving the Minneapolis airport the last two years, a massive cash exodus believed to be tied to Somali immigrants and their money couriers, Homeland Security officials told Just the News.
The officials said the cash movements out of Minnesota’s largest airport began about a decade ago – around the time Democrat Gov. Tim Walz took office – and has grown substantially in recent years.
Though all were legally declared according to U.S. Customs rules, the bundles of cash in luggage – some as much as $1 million in a single trip – raised regular suspicions among TSA agents.
The mountain of dollars leaving the country is now being investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations unit as part of a broader probe into a multibillion dollar fraud scheme centered around the state’s Somali immigrant community, where dozens have been charged with or convicted of federal crimes.
In March of last year, a federal jury convicted the head of the now-defunct organization Feeding our Future in Minnesota for what prosecutors called the largest-ever fraud of pandemic aid, which involved $250 million, the BBC reported.
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https://justthenews.com/government/security/wedfeds-probing-hundreds-millions-suspected-somali-cash-luggage-leaving
