For the agency that deals with border security, it was a major intercept of smuggled cash.
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Two men have been arrested on suspicion of transporting more than $3 million in two vehicles.
“It was quite a significant seizure”, said Border Patrol spokesman Mark Endicott.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the men have pleaded not guilty “to charges of willfully concealing currency in excess of $10,000 and intent to take the money out of the USA, to Mexico”. Normally, he said, the big figure reported is the value of confiscated drugs.
California is one of the nation’s hubs for drug and human trafficking and money laundering and smuggling for Mexican cartels.
Agents searched the Kia and found eight vacuum-sealed packages containing almost $34,000 stashed in the center console of the auto.
Like Los Angeles on the west coast, Atlanta is a major hub for trafficking and laundering on the east coast. The agent suspected that the driver was traveling in tandem with a Volkswagen Passat, which sped off as the Kia driver was being pulled over, according to the CPB. The money was found in a Volkswagen Passat, he said, a auto not as likely to attract attention. Agents searched the vehicle and found $3,018,000 in eight boxes stashed in the trunk.
The $3 million, however, pales in comparison to seizures elsewhere, such as the $24 million seized in June by Miami-Dade Police in Florida. A 53-year-old American was arrested in that stop.
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The suspects were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to federal charges of willfully concealing currency in excess of $10,000 and intent to take money out of the United States and into Mexico.
