Posted on 06/03/2011 8:25:09 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
A well-dressed Mexican man checked into the ritzy Westin Oaks Hotel last week, bringing with him a large, black rolling suitcase and a gym bag packed with nearly $1 million in cash.
For at least two days, the man came and went from the Galleria-area hotel room like any tourist, shopping in Houston’s mega-mall, dining in local restaurants and even taking in a movie, authorities said.
All the while, federal agents watched him, acting on a tip that the man was tied into money laundering for a drug trafficking organization.
As he went to check out May 26, federal agents confronted him in the hallway outside his room. They asked him to step into another hotel room where they’d coordinated their stakeout.
The man seemed “shocked,” and complied, bags in tow, said Michael Booker, an assistant special agent in charge with the federal Homeland Security Investigations in Houston. He didn’t act surprised to find the money in the bags, agents said, but he did play dumb rather well.
“He immediately said, ‘I don’t know anything about the money. It was given to me, and I was told to deliver it,’” Booker said.
And, offering agents little to go on, he walked away from the money and the hotel room. Booker said they didn’t have enough to hold the man.
“Unfortunately, it’s not illegal to carry around large sums of money,” Booker said. “We do have laws on the books for bulk-cash smuggling, but you have to meet certain criteria.”
Booker said agents suspect the money was laundered drug proceeds that were headed back to Mexico.
He said the man, who was in the U.S. on a valid visa, said the money was to be delivered to someone in Houston, but didn’t provide information on the drop-off. So HSI agents were left with the luggage, packed tight with $20 and $10 bills, totaling $995,020.
The cash will end up in the National Treasury Forfeiture Fund, which is used to support crime-fighting efforts, said Gregory Palmore, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.
Booker said HSI agents were taken aback that the man was so casual carrying a million dollars. He had no locks on the luggage, and the cleaning staff came in and out of his room every day, Booker said.
“This was a well-dressed, clean-cut individual staying at a high-end hotel,” Booker said. “You never would have suspected it.”
All you need do is show ordinary proof that it was legit and not related to a crime. That is one big pile of BS in that sentence.
EIGHT YEARS!!!!!
SOB should stay in for 50. working for the people while in the pen
aaarrrgghhh
“And you think the government is wrong to be suspicious??”
It’s perfectly legitimate for the government to be suspicious in a case like this. And if they had an actual case, they should have charged him with a crime and held one of those quaint “trial” things they used to have to go through before seizing this guy’s money.
Since they didn’t see fit to file charges, he should get his money back. Otherwise we all know it’s plunder.
You want the WOD to end, great, change the law. Do it legally and have at it.
You attacked without qualification ALL “COPS” fighting in the war, and that was uncalled for and wrong on many levels.
Your apology for attacking the honesty and integrity of my son and his brother officers is accepted.
“It is not the government’s money. Why do they get to seize it?”
Because they have more men and guns than we have, pure and simple.
“And IF you did have $20,000 confiscated? All you need do is show ordinary proof that it was legit and not related to a crime.”
Because forfeiture is define as a civil matter, not criminal, Constitutional presumption of innocence does not apply. You need the legal team and the time it takes to prove that the money is legit.
Look up ‘civil forfeiture’ and you will see dozens of stories documenting larger and smaller amounts of money, by all levels of government. In fact, the stories show a strong tendency to target minorities and other people who would be less likely to go through the complex legal procedures it takes to get plundered money back.
No seizure of property without due process, under any circumstances whatever.
I don’t have anything to apologize for but if you want to read things into my post and concoct apologies, go ahead.
I’ve got friends in the FBI and DEA (former military) and I’ve discussed this at length with them. They give the “courier” a receipt and the cartels look at it like a business. If they guy was trusted enough to give them a million dollars to lug around, they’re not indiscriminantly start lopping off heads.
And loyaly among the cartels is HIGHLY cultivated and rewarded. Guys don’t go out and get all tatted up with cartel slogans and signage if they think they’re gonna have to run some day. Sure, the traitors and thieves are executed, but that’s a GOOD leadership strategy. Otherwise, cartel leaders NEED loyal employees, especially given the amounts of cash they’re dealing with.
So, you are not apologizing for accusing my son of being in on a WOD scam? My son that bled for this country?
Nice. A real class act.
The Border Patrol Agents are on the line daily, encountering cartel smugglers and there is heck to pay if the smugglers lose a load, let alone a million in cash.
Smugglers, each toting 50-lbs of dope on their back, used to drop their load and run all the time. Now they fight more and run with the load on their back. Why? Because the cartels are tired of the drop-and-run at the first sign of the Border Patrol and this means the cartels started to kill smugglers for doing that. . .message sent and now the smugglers run with the pack and fight.
Night club owner or manager, taking the weekend's receipts to the bank on Monday morning. Why should they be required to pay an armored car service?
you must be delusional. I never accused your son of anything of the sort. It’s also a shame the way you use him to argue with other people
Legitimate business transaction involving carrying $20,000 cash to the bank: successful sales day or weekend of any cash based business. (Some people also prefer for privacy reasons to deal in cash rather than check or plastic.) Some people might also prefer to have a substantial amount of cash in the event banking systems are taken down by a cyber attack or power outages or whatever. Either way, those who prefer freedom over tranquility would object to a government that can tell us how much cash we are allowed to carry without facing confiscation just for having too much cash on hand.
The “visitor” could meet up with cartel justice back in Mexico.
My real estate agent told the story of years ago showing a wealthy Chinese woman around town looking for homes. Turns out she was shopping for herself and her two adult children in the states. She bought 3 very nice homes in the same fancy neigborhood.
When it came time for the closing on the first house she showed up at his office with a suitcase. He asked why the suitcase. To buy the house! She was ready to buy all three homes, in full, with cash! (Probably $500 grand per home?) He drove her to her bank and got a cashier’s check instead.
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