SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A driver was arrested after Border Patrol agents discovered nearly $1 million in cash hidden in his SUV’s gas tank.
On Aug. 5, at around 10:30 a.m., Border Patrol officials said agents spotted a suspicious Volkswagen Touareg on southbound Interstate 15 in Escondido and pulled the vehicle over.
After a K-9 alerted agents to something in the SUV, agents questioned the 26-year-old driver. During a search of the vehicle, agents found 65 plastic-wrapped bundles of cash in the gas tank.
According to officials, there was $967,460 in cash stuffed in the tank.
The driver, a Mexican national, was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security “with pending criminal proceedings,” officials said.
Agents seized the cash and SUV.
In a news release, Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said, “The U.S. Border Patrol works tirelessly to protect the Homeland from transnational criminal organizations - the same criminal enterprises that poison our communities with narcotics and smuggle human beings like cargo. Seizing illicit gains from these criminal enterprises is one of the tactics the USBP uses to keep our country safe.”
