Federal investigators examining a Somali immigrant cash-courier network centered in Minneapolis have identified a new hub in Columbus, Ohio, expanding the scope of a sprawling money-movement operation. Homeland Security officials told Just the News that Transportation Security Administration officers have tracked roughly $136 million in bulk cash passing through John Glenn Columbus International Airport since November 2023.
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According to officials, U.S. citizens of Somali origin carried the cash in their luggage while flying from Columbus to Minneapolis or Atlanta. The couriers properly declared the money on federal disclosure forms, but the volume and pattern of movement raised red flags for investigators monitoring financial crimes and illicit flows.
Authorities believe the Columbus operation is part of a much larger network that gathers cash from Somali immigrant communities across the West, Midwest, and South. The money is then consolidated in Minneapolis before being sent overseas, most often routed through Europe to the Middle East.
One official familiar with the investigation said that when couriers arrive in Minneapolis, they typically hand off the cash before another individual transports it abroad, often flying from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and then onward to Dubai. Once the money reaches Dubai, U.S. authorities say visibility into its final destination largely disappears.
The new findings build on earlier reporting that TSA agents flagged nearly $700 million in cash moving out of Minneapolis-area airports in 2024 and 2025, frequently destined for Amsterdam and Dubai. Officials said those totals were 90 to 99 times higher than similar cash movements detected at major international hubs such as JFK in New York, Seattle, or Atlanta.
The revelations have drawn political attention, with Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul announcing an investigation into whether the cash exports are connected to fraud. The probe comes amid an ongoing federal case in Minnesota involving an estimated $9 billion welfare fraud scheme tied largely to Somali immigrants, which has already resulted in more than 90 indictments and dozens of convictions.[/read]