I take your point, but still find it hard to have any sympathy.
taking money that way seems such a peculiar thing to do that alarm bells should have been ringing unless the guy knew what he was doing was illegal.
it even seems strange to take money that way if it was a drug deal
I would also imagine that he wasn't stopped at random, purchasing such a large amount of TC's would have caused a bit of attention re money laundering regulations nowadays and I would imagine his passport no was "flagged" beore he even left the UK.