Thursday, April 22, 2010

American Arrested in Mexico for Carrying 150 Gold Coins; Coins Seized

From a machine translation from El Siglo via PrimaPanama:

The Federal Police arrested at the International Airport of Mexico City,  U.S. [citizen] Martin Thomas Arnold, 58 years old, who was scheduled to travel to Panama with 150 gold coins in his possession, with a total weight of five kilos 33 grams.

Arnold even had a receipt for some of the coins and it appears there was no legitimate reason for them to be seized, or for him to be arrested.

According to a Sify news  report, the gold coins were found in the baggage of a Arnold as he awaited a flight to Panama from the Mexico City airport, officials said.

Arnold appeared visibly nervous' prompting agents to run his suitcase through a scanner, which detected several containers inside, the Mexican Public Safety Secretariat said.

One container held 50 gold coins with the legend 'Suid Afrika-South Africa' on them and two others had 100 coins inside that said 'United States of America'.

The coins weighed a total of more than five kg, the secretariat said.

Though Arnold even showed a receipt that he had with him for the purchase of 50 of the gold coins worth $1,171 each, he was turned over to prosecutors, the secretariat said.

It is not clear what the charges are against him.

66 comments:

  1. Why didn't he just buy the gold in Panama ?
    They respect gold in Panama from what I have read.
    Carrying around that much money in Mexico is a big risk.

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    1. Because you can not buy an oz, of gold in the us for under 1750 .00 today he must have bought the gold a couple of years ago when the price was near 1100.00 an oz.

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  2. yep, thats an enormous amount of money to be carrying around in a place as corrupt as Mexico (or the US for that matter)

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  3. "Hola senor! Your bag, well, it was overwieght for the flight. Instead of charging you the normal 5,000 peso fine, we removed some items to bring it down to regulation. No, no, you can thank us later once you leave the country. And never come back, if you catch our meaning.

    Badges? Why senor, we don't need no . . ."

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  4. Since when do you need "charges" to rob a man.

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  5. Maybe the drug cartels are getting leary of the dollar and are trasporting their profits in something easier to carry and safer to hold on to?

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  6. Strange that you brought up the subject of drug cartels. What does that have to do with this man losing his property?

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  7. Get discovered by an American sheriff's department carrying that kind of money, and they'll steal it, too, calling it "asset forfeiture". Nobody needs to carry that much money, unless he's a drug dealer, or so their twisted and larcenous thinking goes.

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    1. FALSE....WHEN I BUY I NEED TO TRANSPORT TO BANK.

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  8. Since when is money illegal?

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    1. Getting rich without paying 50~70% tax is always illegal in US

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    2. Yea, unless you are already rich!!!

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    3. US Police are incentivized to take any amount of money and property exceeding a few hundred on claims that only thieves carry cash. Policies and lack of accountability allows this to occur. That is, unless you have a lot of money to sue via lawyers. They know most will not. Google the subject, its becoming business wherein the police are getting wealthy. The story link below is old and its far more prevalent everywhere now. Sadly, Police lie more than they tell the truth. I visit my parents 1 hour away and we always stay up past midnight. Yet nearly every time I am driving home, I get pulled over by small town police desperately looking for DWI examples and giving me false and made up justifications for pulling me over. One included claimed I went over the line of a single lane road that was nearly the size of two. I laughed and said "are you kidding me!". Then he threatened me and claimed his partner would say the same. Then before he left, he said, we are just trying to keep the roads safe. Yes.. with two people lying about it. What these people fail to realize is that they are loosing their credibility with honest citizens who don't break the law. I will be forced to think of that whenever I am on a jury stand. The liars seem to be wearing uniforms all too often. If they will lie about a traffic stop, surely they will lie about something more impacting to them or their partner. The corporate owned news and their propaganda machine didn't show the what military did first in relation to Katrina. That is, first thing they did was to go around in the middle of the night, pound on doors, windows etc. and demand peoples guns. The attacking an elderly woman was captured on video. Look this up on You Tube along with all the highway stops in Tx, Az, etc. I'm pretty sure our constitution wasn't about creation of a police state.
      http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-sunrise-cops-money-selling-drugs-1006,0,497004.htmlpage

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  9. One should only have full faith in fiat money.

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  10. Why didn't he buy the gold in Panama? Because to get out of the U.S., it is illegal to carry more than 10,000 frns (federal reserve notes, a.k.a. cash) without declaring it to the feds (who love to steal and kidnap as much as the Mexicans!). But U.S. gold coins have a face value of $50, so even 150 1-oz. gold eagles would have a face value of $7,500 (under the $10,000 limit).

    Otherwise, the man would have to carry 170,000 frns or so. See the problem?

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  11. Poor Bastard, and I mean Poor. This needs to be followed. He must not be forgotten. Question, Is this a glimpse of things to come? Will this give probable cause for our government to seize assets? Watch out!

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  12. What fool flies with gold in his luggage across international borders?

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  13. It's odd. You can drive around unmolested in your own private bus worth a small fortune yet if you walk around with an equal or even less than equal amount of gold in your pockets, they jail you, rob you and claim you are a suspected criminal.

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  14. Mexican scumbags! Everyone would like to steal your gold coins. But the corruption runs deep in Mexico where the police rape our young college spring breaker girls, rob the men. Why the F--- would anyone want to go there? My friends dad was robbed there by two police officers, then held for ransome!

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    1. Because you dirty US scumbags come here to do the shit you cannot do in your shitty country. Do us a favor and DO NOT COME. Why you come here in the forst place? ah, I forgot, your beaches are big shit and pee pools

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  15. Ship your valuables like gold from authorized brokers to authorized brokers under bond. Then catch a plane that overflys Mexico. Boycott every Mexican destination and hope they do the same to us if you get my drift.

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  16. Went to tijuana once never again. The man was either a criminal or a damn fool to be carrying that much in Mexico. It is not unusual for me to have $3500. in cash in my billfold, but I live in Alaska and I carry a 44.

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    1. Not in Mexico you don't
      Guns are illegal in Mexico- for average people anyway!

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    2. you can own a government issued pistol .22 or .38 cal.to be kept in your house

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  17. If this man knows real law, he might be able to get his assets back and send a bill to the idiots who detained him and wasted his time (he'll have to deal with the Church, maybe). If he doesn't know real law, he had no business carrying gold, especially through Mexico.

    This should be posted under "What did you THINK was going to happen?"

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  18. One day, we will defend our property.

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  19. i hope so.

    as far as the USA and UK goes, ive been flying around and crossing the international border directly declaring my coins, no problems. And its true, been told every time the authorities go by the legal value of $50/oz gold.

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  20. I'm a refinery gold buyer. It's not unusual for me to have a great deal of cash and/or gold in my possession, but I also have a CCF permit. I wouldn't DREAM of going to Mexico with that kind of gold--you'll never see it again!

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  21. Hi & Thanks for this info, Yet i have some gold & would love to actually know what the law is ?
    Demoricy my ass. Tas
    yes bad spelling lol

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  22. i don't understand why he was arrested can any one tell me what was his fault or what are the rules for a person carrying gold in person

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  23. what is a CCF permit?

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  24. what is a CCF permit,anyone???

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  25. CCF = Concealed Carry Firearms permit.

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  26. Everyone should have a CCF. Makes life much easier when you have to drop a thug. Less questions from the gov. policers. They do not like competition, but what can they do if you have a permit.
    Do you realize everytime you are stopped or questioned by the police your rights are literally suspended during the stop or questioning. I would never speak "boo" to a cop without an attorney and I consider myself a role model citizen.

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  27. This makes me root all the harder for the drug gangs. At least they have an honest product to sell, not phony "law enforcement", and they've killed thousands of Mexican cops.

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  28. I don't think a "CCF permit" would have helped this guy in Mexico.
    Somebody didn't research reality enough when he cashed in his life savings, bought gold, and tried to move to Panama.

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  29. Okay, so the man is a fool for carrying gold into Mexico. So I wonder how gold will be useful in times of chaos if a person cannot transport it. There will be no fiat money and maybe no viable communications to communities outside your own.
    How can you buy goods if you cannot carry gold?

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  30. I hate to pile on, but it's a really bad idea to carry any financial resources through a corrupt third-world pesthole like Mexico.
    Given the corruption here in the United States, I have the same concerns.

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  31. FRN's have been detectable at airports without visual contact even 15 years ago with relative value being determined.

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  32. I'm not surprised that this type of thing happened in Mexico, but with the thugs in the US goobermint I would not be surprised if it happend here also. How many times have you read an article about a police raid and the article says "and they found $xxxx in cash in the house..." as if it's illegal to have cash in your home!!!

    Our goobermint is out of control and needs to be whittled down to size!

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  33. Well face value is less than 10k so he was good in the US, however US Coins are not permitted by law to be taken outside the US, no matter the denomination.

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  34. I wonder if the illegals that are parasiting off of the US declare all of the money they send home to that third-world dump of theirs?

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  35. Police everywhere love to steal assets. Where, precisely is the law that states that you cannot carry gold? After all, paper money is worth... paper.

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  36. what law says that it s illegal to take us coins out of the country?

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  37. well, illegals do leave their taxes by purchases of gas ,food in this first-world dump full of crackheads.

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  38. The man was probably "moving" to Panama, which I've thought of doing myself after seeing the POLICE STATE America has become. The people commenting that the U.S. police would also steal it are correct! He had no way to get the gold out of the country easily except the suitcase with a metal detector barrier. The gold should be given back to him by Mexico since they've acknowledged taking it. The American Embassy should INSIST that it be returned.

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  39. My understanding is that this gentleman DID declare his >$10,000 stash when leaving the USA. However, the suspicion is that someone "tipped off" the Mexican officials so they could confiscate.

    To the person who commented it was a bad idea to carry this stuff "around" Mexico... he was only at that airport for a connecting flight, dude!

    To those who commented the man should have BOUGHT in Panama, what should he do with what he already owned (probably purchased over a long time)? Sell it in the USA, pay USA capital gains tax on it, then re-buy in Panama with what he has left over? What for? He wanted to keep his assets, not transmute them.

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  40. Selling in USA and the repurchasing in Panama is a non-taxable event called a like kind exchange. Really! It's called a 1031 exchange. Done correctly, there is no tax liability. Too bad he didn't know it...

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  41. I'm pretty sure the federales just said: that white guy looks nervous he's probably got dope in his bags ,let's go see what he has in the bags that's making him so nervous".The world is what it is, if you cant find your way through then maybe you should sit it out like in a jail cell somewhere.But hey that's just me- Tom Delay.

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  42. Better to wear your gold when traveling abroad in form of 22 or 24 karat jewelry. Sure, a man will look like "Mr. T," but I can't imagine anyone wrestling anyone wearing strands of gold necklaces to the ground at the airport an "confiscating them!"

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  43. they should have used these guys

    parcelpro (dot) com

    insured coin, jewelry, delivery company

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  44. Sorry to burst your bubble folks, but if you carry 150 gold coins in the U.S., they will be confiscated immediately and you will be jailed for at least 24 hours if not more. Sorry.

    One more thing, you will NOT get your coins back.

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  45. The man is a neighbor of my brother. Apparently he missed a connecting flight Mex. city. He declared the gold to Mex. Customs, later when he came back to the airport the seized the gold and put him in jail for three weeks. He hired a mex. attorney to no avail.

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  46. The report said he looked visably nervous. Yeh right. My "visable nervous" would be dripping down both pant legs!!!

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  47. SINCE WHEN IS LEGAL MONEY "ILLEGAL" and grounds for detention and arrest? For all the smug ones posting here- this is already happening inside US at domestic airports. One guy was arrested between flights for having 'too much currency' on him and it was US fiat $$- only 1400. USD or so, which he had proven was in his possession legally and legitimately.

    This is being used to target people esp if they have any political dissident baggage along with their gold baggage. (and being a 'terrorist' can now mean nothing more than visiting web pages like this one).

    MAKE THE CONNECTION SHEEPLE. You are next.
    No one here is safe and the domestic arrests are already in force.

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  48. I use FED EX and insure it and have never had a problem. 50 or 60 lbs of coin just dont trasvel well on a plane.

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  49. "Well face value is less than 10k so he was good in the US, however US Coins are not permitted by law to be taken outside the US, no matter the denomination." Silly comment! I for one have pruchased "US coins" (Silver bullion) in Germany. NO problem and 100% legal. Don't post crap you know nothing about.

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  50. possible armament payment

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  51. Panama customs goes by market value of precious metals. This man would have been subjected to heavy import taxes. Nevertheless, far more preferable to being busted in Mexico.

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  52. Leaving the country with $150k of coins is a crime (declared or not) but leaving the country with $300k of debt is not ?

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  53. "Well face value is less than 10k so he was good in the US, however US Coins are not permitted by law to be taken outside the US, no matter the denomination." Silly comment! I for one have pruchased "US coins" (Silver bullion) in Germany. NO problem and 100% legal. Don't post crap you know nothing about.

    Ok but this is Europe not Mexico my friend :)

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  54. Actually it is very simple- the us went after UBS because they had an office in the US which they used as jurisdiction, so they arm wrestled the swiss out of their sovereign freedom of secrecy. Why? They wanted the cash. Gotta make that weekly interest payment you know. They probably agreed to split the take with mexico, the same way they agree with drug kingpins and get solid arrests from the kingpins in return for continuation of the drug trade.

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  55. I just had supper with Mr. Arnold, and he told me what happened. He duly declared the coins on departure from the USA, and was only on a brief stopover in Mexico City. His ongoing flight left from the adjacent gate, but the US ticket agent had forgotten to print his boarding pass for the continuing flight. In Mexico they do not print passes at the gate, so he had to leave the secured area and get a boarding pass downstairs at Departures. Then he was stopped at the security station when they saw the coins at the metal detector. He spent a very uncomfortable week in a Mexican jail, and has yet to get the gold back, despite a high court judge saying there was no law against him having it. Maybe soon... In the mean time, I would certainly avoid Mexico on a courier trip, or at the very least make sure I had all my boarding passes in hand.

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  56. Have any of the commenters above read about monetary laws in Mexico? If the guy was thinking about "face value" when since the middle 70's the mexican monetary law clearly says that Precious Metals are legal tender at market value... I'd like to know if the coins were or not declared prior to their detection.

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  57. i just simply wanted to bring my gold dollars over to the philipinnes and pass them on to relatives. it would be a treat for them and myself....can anyone help me out ...traveling form usa.

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  58. it would be safer to rob a bank and the best way to rob a bank is to own one.

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