Posted on 02/26/2008 7:03:08 PM PST by La Enchiladita
EL PASO — Customs agents found nearly $1.9 million hidden in the doors of a sport utility vehicle at an El Paso port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Tuesday.
Agents found the cash, wrapped in bundles and hidden in the doors of a 1992 Ford Expedition, after using a density meter to inspect the vehicle Monday morning, CBP spokesman Roger Maier said.
"The driver was a little bit nervous, a little bit shaky," Maier said. "So the agents used ... a density meter. It registered higher than normal, consistent with contraband. They started looking closer at the doors and spotted, not drugs which we were expecting, but currency."
Saul Sanchez, a 42-year-old Mexican national who was living legally in Kansas City, Kan., was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on charges of currency smuggling. His 2-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, and his wife, a legal permanent resident, were both released.
Cash in the amount of $10,000 or higher must be declared if an individual is entering or leaving the U.S.
Maier said the seizure — $1,858,085 — is among the largest ever cash seizures in El Paso. The largest was in 1997 when agents stopped a vehicle headed to Mexico and found $5,649,760.
"What we seize is generally in the five-figure range," Maier said. "Even the six-figure seizure is rare so getting something close to $2 million is extremely significant."
The seizure is nearly three times the amount of cash seized by El Paso agents in the last two years.
Maier said agents don't know where the money came from or was headed, but "the assumption would be that it was the proceeds of some illegal activity."
Travis Kuykendall, director of the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, said the size of the seizure and that it was found in a vehicle heading into the United States make Monday's discovery highly unusual.
"The money usually goes south," Kuykendall said, adding the large cash sums caught going south are generally drug proceeds.
Kuykendall said it's possible that the money is from a legitimate business, given the legal complexities of declaring that much money being brought into the U.S.
Sanchez is being held without bail in El Paso County. Jail records do not show if he has hired a lawyer.
Because carrying money is a crime ping.
Damn, I wondered where I left that.
hmmmm indeed.
His 2-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, and his wife, a legal permanent resident, were both released.
anchor baby and smuggler in training ..
Just Doing the Smuggling Americans Won’t Do Anymore.
One of those “density meters”, a passable uniform from the Army-Navy store, and a rented black Suburban could make for a very profitable Saturday night down in East San Jose.
As a border agent, would you be tempted to look the other way, say for 5% of 2 Million?
I just hope the SUV is ok.
The feds don't care what Saul Sanchez was doing, not really. But the 1.8M will fund some great new toys.
Innocent until proved guilty are just words in this country now. This guy could have been up to no good, but to be able to grab any amount over 10,000 and call it illegal is just BS. They can do that in the states also, you don't have to cross a border, just drive around with 11,000 or more in your car and they will take it and charge you with a crime. Isn't freedom wonderful? and before some idiot asks me, no I don't think laws like this are necessary in order to combat crime, we did just fine against crime before these money laws were passed. These laws about control of ordinary citizens and many have been bitten by them, the government can pass any law if they claim it is to fight drugs.
In the US carrying your money is illegal, believe it or not.
Well, it’s gone now! The US government has made it a crime to have money!
LOL. Good thing I’m jesting.
density meter
*********************************
glorified “stud finder”
Well, if you have all the serial numbers...???
:-)
Um, no thanks. That money is not worth trying to claim. LOL.
The money was a ruse.
The Ford Expedition is a full-size SUV built by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1997 it slots between the smaller Ford Explorer, and the now discontinued and larger Ford Excursion.
It was the ultra-rare 1992 Ford Expedition they were smuggling, and the money was just a diversion to keep them from noticing the vehicle itself. :')
Oddly enough, the SUV was just holding it for a friend.
I’d like to know what he delivered down south for the “$1.9 million” and where it came from here. That’s the problem, we don’t hear the follow-through on these stories.
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