Smuggler Denies Knowing He Had Nearly $100K In Car

Agents seized cash determined to be drug proceeds. [Photo courtesy CBP]

YUMA – Three United States citizens, were arrested and nearly $100,000 in cash in suspected drug smuggling money and seized a stolen vehicle were seized by Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents in two separate events near Blythe, California.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Blythe Station agents “conducted a vehicle stop on Thursday at approximately 6 p.m. Agents requested, and were granted consent, to search the vehicle after the driver, a male 23-year-old United States citizen, admitted to having drug paraphernalia. During the search, agents located a trash bag containing $96,565 in cash concealed in the rear compartment of the vehicle. Additional evidence was discovered in the vehicle linking the money to drug smuggling activities. The driver claimed that the cash did not belong to him and it was seized by agents.”

Then at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Fiday, agents stopped a vehicle traveling on I-10. Agents ran a record check on the vehicle and discovered that the license plate belonged to a different car, and the stopped vehicle was reported stolen. Additional records checks on the male driver and female passenger showed warrants for both subjects.

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The driver, a 39-year-old male from Laguna Woods, California, had an extraditable warrant out of California for dangerous drugs. The female passenger, a 30-year-old from Bossier City, Louisiana, was found to have a failure to appear warrant out of Louisiana.

A small amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle. The driver and passenger were arrested for the warrants and possession of a stolen vehicle.

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