Overview
- Customs officers discovered €350,000 hidden in seven vacuum‑sealed, foil‑wrapped packages inside a passenger's luggage during an inspection of an intercity bus.
- The cash was found on a bus operating on the Stuttgart–Berlin–Warsaw route and was in the possession of a Ukrainian traveller.
- The passenger told officers in a spot check that they were not carrying money, a statement officials say proved false and prompted the seizure.
- Authorities launched an Ordnungswidrigkeitenverfahren under the Zollverwaltungsgesetz to seize the notes and begin formal proceedings.
- A clearing procedure will seek to establish where the money came from and whether it is tied to crime while travelers must declare €10,000 or more under EU and German rules or face heavy fines.