Originally Posted by
janetdoe
Somehow it seems that you are under the mistaken impression that it is your job to detect "terrorists" or "terrorist-related crime".
Your job is to ensure that no one brings weapons, incendiaries, or explosives onto a plane. The courts have ruled this on numerous occasions, and thrown out evidence when TSOs exceed the scope of their duty by looking for cash or drugs.
I believe it was just a week ago (Oct 5) that the George case (Arabic flashcards) was heard before the Third Circuit. But I fully expect that TSOs playing 'language and document police' and trampling the First Amendment will be slapped down, too.
Other than the opium crop in Afghanistan, I am not aware of (and certainly have never read about at any classification level) any direct and recurring connection between drug trafficking, cash transactions, and financing terrorism. For that matter, the opium crop in Afghanistan finances practically the entire country.
This gets back to my earlier point that it's in the TSA's best interests to never define what is a threat and what isn't, because it gives them unprecedented extra-constitutional powers to search and seize practically anything they want for whatever reason they want.