Honey Money

I saw a story on the news tonight that I found both funny and frightening. Not only that, but it had to do with bees and honey, which just seemed to be appropriate for this week's article.

It seems that over 30% of the exports of honey from the United States go to Middle Eastern countries, especially Yemen. Now, customs officials are beginning to check those shipments of honey more carefully, since it seems that at least one individual is using honey shipments as a way to hide the transfer of huge amounts of money out of the United States. His lawyer says it is a simple transaction, done all the time. He says there's nothing unusual about it, but to me it sounds a bit strange. You can decide.

It seems that recently this individual had several boxes of honey shipped via Delta Airlines from Kennedy International Airport in New York City to his home country of Yemen. An alert worker at the airport decided to inspect the boxes, and when they were opened, over $100,000 was found hidden among the jars of honey. Routine?

It doesn't seem to me to be reasonable to assume that the average person would be using honey as a bank. Sorry! I always thought when you transferred money you used a check or at least a bank. But hiding it in honey shipments? Surely this is not standard banking practice!

On a more positive note, however, there is no indication that this shipment was destined to wind up in the hands of terrorists or others who might support them. Instead, it appears, according to the Justice Department, to be a simple case of smuggling.

I can imagine that now the Department of Justice and U.S. Customs Service will be checking all honey exports, to find out how frequent this practice is. Unfortunately, the detection of this crime could impact the export side of the business, if it is commonplace. I mean, think about it. These people have been found out. Their method of transfer was discovered. Will that discovery mean that the huge amount of honey exported each year be reduced?

After all, if the U.S. Government knows about it, why use that method anymore? A reduction in honey exports could adversely affect the price of honey world wide, since it would no longer be being exported. This, in turn, could drive up the cost to consumers, as well as cause some commercial operations which have depended on this income to suffer financial problems.

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