A former Transportation Security Administration agent says she personally observed suitcases packed with millions of dollars in cash repeatedly passing through airport checkpoints, raising questions about where billions lost to Minnesota fraud schemes may have gone.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A former Transportation Security Administration agent says she repeatedly witnessed Somali couriers carrying suitcases filled with millions of dollars in cash through U.S. airport checkpoints during her time on the job, alleging a pattern that she now believes may be connected to massive fraud uncovered in Minnesota’s social-services system.
The former agent, speaking in an interview with Liz Collin of Alpha News, said she personally screened bags containing large sums of cash and watched as the travelers—typically small men moving in pairs—were allowed to continue on international flights after brief law enforcement checks.
She said the experiences stood out immediately. “I saw suitcases filled with millions of dollars of cash and the couriers were always small men traveling in pairs and they got through the checkpoint,” she said. “The first time you open a suitcase, and you see millions of dollars of cash, it absolutely blew my mind.”
While traveling with large amounts of money is not illegal if properly documented, the former agent said the scale and frequency of what she observed appeared highly unusual. According to her account, the same method repeated itself week after week, with pairs of men presenting luggage filled entirely with stacks of cash.
“This seemed like it happened every week,” she said. “The suitcases came in and the MO was always two Somali men traveling in pairs. Sometimes they both had suitcases.”
She explained that TSA agents would pull the bags aside, escort the travelers to a private screening room, and confirm that the contents were indeed cash. Law enforcement officers would then be called to the scene. “A law enforcement officer would come and maybe question them and for sure take a picture of their identification,” she said, adding that she assumed plane tickets were also documented.
Because of those procedures, she believes there is a substantial evidentiary trail. “Their IDs were always documented,” she said. “With all the cameras at the airport, if they started there, they could probably find each and every individual that brought money through the checkpoint.”
The former agent said the repeated sightings now appear connected to revelations that as much as $9 billion was allegedly stolen in Minnesota’s sprawling social-services fraud schemes, which investigators and media reports say were largely orchestrated by members of the state’s Somali community. That figure is nearly equivalent to the size of Somalia’s entire economy.
According to reporting, the amount stolen represents roughly half of the approximately $18 billion in federal funds provided to Minnesota-run social service programs since 2018, drawing intense scrutiny toward Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s administration.
For comparison, Somalia’s total gross domestic product was under $12 billion in 2024, according to the World Bank.
In the Alpha News interview, Collin pressed the former agent on the scale of the activity. “So, you’re talking about millions of dollars flying out of Minneapolis, and you think it happened about every week or so. Is that right?” Collin asked.
“Yes,” the former agent replied, reiterating that the pattern appeared consistent. “There is a trail out there,” she said. “Between documented IDs, plane tickets, and all the cameras in the airport, I would imagine that if they wanted to find all this cash, they could.”
She said that despite the repeated incidents and the obvious red flags, little appeared to be done beyond documenting the travelers and allowing them to proceed.
“I don’t know what kind of questions they asked them,” she said. “But obviously, this seems suspicious, if not alarming, given what seems to be a pattern here.”
The former agent’s account adds to mounting questions surrounding the destination of funds allegedly siphoned from Minnesota’s public assistance programs and whether large sums of cash were quietly transported out of the United States through commercial airports in plain sight.
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Hat tip Sheila B.
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