Syrian man with $800K gold freed

Few weeks ago, a news from CBC Canada reported about a Syrian man with $800K gold freed. Khaled Nawaya a flight instructor who was born in Saudi Arabia and holds Syrian citizenship, held on suspicion of being a national security threat after trying to bring nearly $1 million into Canada secretly has been released from custody and now says he's the victim of profiling. All of that because he has a DVD about Sept. 11 and some Hezbollah insignia.

Photo by CBC Canada: Maple Leaf gold coin that carried by Khaled Nawaya

Agents with the Canada Border Services Agency said that when Khaled Nawaya arrived at the Canada-U.S. border south of Vancouver last month, he told them he was carrying $10,000 cash. But a search of his vehicle found more than $800,000 in Canadian gold coins, $80,000 cash and other paraphernalia that agents deemed suspicious. The money has been confiscated. Officers said the search also turned up a pro-Palestinian scarf, DVDs about Sept. 11 conspiracy theories and a ring featuring the insignia of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a Shia Islam group based in Lebanon and is listed as a terrorist organization in Canada. A Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator released Nawaya on 12 November 2009 on the condition that he provide documentation on the source of his money.


Khaled Nawaya, 34 years old, said most of the money came from a lawsuit he won in the United States, where he had lived since 1993. Nawaya declined to comment on the politically related items the CBSA found or his decision to mislead border guards about the money.

"I want to tell everyone who's suspicious (of me) there's no reason to be suspicious, and not everyone who comes from the Middle East is a bad person."

Nawaya's Canadian lawyer admitted Nawaya's behaviour at the border did not serve him well. "He raised their alarm bells, needlessly," Phil Rankin said.

Nawaya's conditions for release require that he provide an address to authorities and check in monthly with the CBSA. Rankin said Nawaya still faces the possibility of charges for not declaring the money, which he may never get back.

This news is a reminder to all of us to check the authority regulations first before we travel between any country. What is the limit of money you can carry when you travel around any country. Do you need to declare that money and what is the procedure? How about if you bring your gold coin along? is that consider as a money in other country?

Source: CBC Canada