Currency seized on 10/30/11. Photo special to The Laredo Sun.
By: Special to The Laredo Sun
citizen from Mount Clemens, Michigan. A CBP agent referred the subject and the vehicle for a secondary examination that resulted in the discovery and extraction of 16 bundles containing $300,415 in currency concealed within the vehicle.
The heroin and methamphetamine seizure occurred on Saturday when CBP officers conducting inspections as part of CBP’s layered enforcement posture flagged a 2000 Nissan Maxima driven by a 48-year-old male Mexican citizen from Chicago, Illinois for secondary inspection.
As a result of the secondary inspection, CBP officers found six bundles containing 15 pounds of alleged heroin along with three bundles containing eight pounds of alleged methamphetamine within the Nissan.
The total value of the heroin is listed at $1.5 million and the value for the methamphetamine is listed at $120,000.
The other currency seizure occurred on Friday when CBP officers and agents were conducting outbound (southbound) inspections at the same bridge and encountered a 2006 Subaru Tribeca driven by a 25-year-old female U.S.
citizen from Houston, Texas. A CBP officer referred the vehicle for a secondary examination that resulted in the revealing of 20 bundles containing $350,000 in undeclared currency hidden within the vehicle.
All three drivers involved in these three separate cases and the vehicles they were driving were turned over by CBP officers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) special agents for further investigation.
“The level of dedication and vigilance is evident in the good work of our CBP men and women in helping stem both drugs and currency from reaching our community and their intended sources,” said Sidney K. Aki, CBP Port Director, Laredo.
“Our CBP officers and agents continue to work hard to keep illicit trade from traversing our ports as evidenced by this weekend’s seizures both northbound and southbound.”
Individuals are permitted to carry any amount of currency or monetary instruments into or out of the U. S., however, if the quantity is more than $10,000, they will need to report it to CBP.
“Money” means monetary instruments and includes U.S. or foreign coins currently in circulation, currency, traveler’s checks in any form, money orders, and negotiable instruments or investment securities in bearer form.
Failure to declare may result in seizure of the currency and/or arrest.
Laredo Sun
