Bolivians with €105,000 held at Schiphol

The Royal Marechaussee arrested two Bolivian nationals on Thursday at Schiphol who were trying to take more than €105,000 out of the country.

A press release on the Marechaussee’s Facebook page said the two passengers were booked on a flight to Madrid, Spain. It said that the arrest was triggered when a flight-attendant caught one of them trying to stash stacks of €500 bills into a waste bin in the toilet of the aircraft. She alerted security officers who called for Marechaussee assistance. Both passengers were pulled off the flight. The Marechaussee says that as they have so far given contradicting explanations about the source of the money, they were both detained under suspicion of money laundering. The press release explained that it is not mandatory for passengers in Europe to report money they are traveling with, the Customs Department is authorized to take action when it suspects money laundering.