105000 Euros Series #1 - Carrying Option

The first question is why would you carry 105000 euros cash in your hand-carry? Have you heard of travelers cheques, manager's check or ATM?


Ah! Oh of course, if you don't want paper trail, then that could be difficult. But come to think of it, the decision to carry Euros is the most efficient idea in terms of transporting pieces of banknotes. If it is any consolation, we are assured that a person from an intelligence group has intelligence, at least mathematically.


Hypothetically, say you are traveling to an Eastern European country, then you must know that the currency in Eastern Europe (say Russia) is not Euros. They do accept Euros of course, but practically any other Europen currencies as well.


The trick is knowing that there is a 500 Euro bill. So you only need to carry 210 pieces only. US Dollars will be accepted in Russia, as in any other country in the world. But you know that the Euro is almost twice the value of the US$. Also, there is no 500US$bill. If you were to convert the amount to US$, you would have to carry 210 x 2 x 5 = 2,100 banknotes. Not efficient.


Next best bet is to exchange it to British Pounds, which will be 105000Euros = 81,672.7 GBP. Only issue is that the biggest Pound banknote in terms of value is 100, which means you carry at least 818 pieces of banknotes. Still a lot.


So, in summary, smart decision to carry 210 pieces of Euro banknotes.


What I don't understand is why 1 person would carry all 210 pieces? If you are traveling with a colleague, and your wife, and your colleague's wife, and assuming you are going on a similar mission, wouldn't it be more practical to divide the 210 pieces amongst the 4 of you - roughly 52 pieces of banknotes? Of course, it will still be ~26,000 Euros per person(or 1MPesos), but it still is 52 pieces.


If you are carrying a book, you can easily slip 10 pieces in between pages. Put 5 on your make-up/tooth-brush kit. Some inside your socks, not shoes! Some on the front pocket of your shirt or pants and the others in your wallet/purse of course.


Unless of course, the other people you are traveling with does not know the mission. Maybe you are the only one who knows what you are supposed to do with the money. Well, you and another female official. But that is a different story.