What happens if you deny them permission to search?
Why denial = probable cause!
;O)
That's a beautiful catch there, that Catch 22.
“What happens if you deny them permission to search?”
If ever asked for permission to search, it’s not a yes or no answer. The correct answer to the officer is “if you have probable cause, you don’t need my permission”
Then the DEA ends up with bloody money.
There are so many laws on the books that a competent cop can find you in violation of a bunch of laws at any given time. The local cops make use of broken tail lights, improperly affixed registration tags and cracked windshields as probable cause for a stop if they are inclined to perform a stop. They know the names and faces of the habitual offenders in the area. It's common for a broken tail light to progress to a traffic stop where a "wants and warrants" check turns up an active warrant for a vehicle occupant.
If the truck driver carried over $10,000 across the border without a proper declaration, that will result in legal action. Any time you perform a transaction or series of transactions that exceed $10,000 in a fixed time frame, the bank networks flag the activity and notify the appropriate government agency.
“What happens if you deny them permission to search?”
They’ll arrest you for “suspicion” and hold you while they get a warrant, after which they’ll steal your money just as they planned to begin with. Except, of course, that you will have spent a few days in jail and will have incurred the cost of a lawyer and perhaps bail. Oh, and now they just might take your car as well because you pissed them off.
Some “free society, huh??
It’s my understanding that they don’t need permission to search a commercial vehicle.