Detecting U.S. currency at a distance

[Ladewig]

CNN

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Ah, the smell of money -- there's nothing quite like it. Some people, in fact, may soon be looking for ways to mask the special odor.

Drug traffickers who ship profits abroad in suitcases are not apt to be thrilled with some inventions developed by federal scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory.

One sniffs the air -- it can pick up a stack of bills from about 10 feet away -- for currency's chemical signature. Another beams electrons through packages or luggage to detect trace metals in the green ink.

And a third project, not yet started, would scan serial numbers of individual bills into a database.

It's unclear whether the legal system would view seized bills found through the devices as admissible, and privacy advocates fear such inventions would infringe on civil liberties if adopted.

The cash sniffer is actually a gas chromatograph about the size of a cordless hand vacuum.

Here's how it works: Take a crisp $20 bill out of your wallet and put it up to your nose. That sweet, slightly acidic aroma is actually microscopic molecules of ink and paper landing on the nerve receptors inside your nose.

The device works in nearly the same way, but with much higher sensitivity. Airborne molecules land on a sensor. If enough molecules are detected, the device emits an alert.

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[clarsct]

Good Great Holy Gobs of Gopher Guts!

Do you mean to tell me that now I'll be stopped at the airport because I have a frickin' $20 in my wallet?



◊◊◊◊ it, I'll walk......

 

[Mosquito]

Good Great Holy Gobs of Gopher Guts!

Do you mean to tell me that now I'll be stopped at the airport because I have a frickin' $20 in my wallet?



◊◊◊◊ it, I'll walk......

Don't worry about the airport. I'll buy one of these on the free (black) market and use it to prescreen my vic... eh, clients to improve my efficiency of service.

I hope these things will have the capability to indicate amount as well as presence, but that may be too much to hope for.


Mosquito (seeing the possibility for more precise stings)

 

[NickW]

It's unclear whether the legal system would view seized bills found through the devices as admissible, and privacy advocates fear such inventions would infringe on civil liberties if adopted.

The seized money would probably be admissible only if a direct connection between the money and payment for illegal activities could be shown. And as for privacy, if drug dogs outside of a vehicle detect drugs inside the vehicle, the officers have probable cause to search. However, since money isn't illegal itself, police officers would probably need some other evidence to show probable cause for a search. At an airport, they may need no probable cause, since airport security officials are permitted to search with little or no reasons for their search.

(Edited to fix grammatical & spelling errors.)