IL: County police seize $440,000 during I-94 stop

[Jean]

County police seize $440,000 during I-94 stop

October 18, 2007
By Andy Grimm Post-Tribune staff writer

CROWN POINT -- Lake County Sheriff's police Monday pulled nearly half a million dollars in suspected drug money from a hidden compartment in a SUV headed east on Interstate-94 outside Porter.
The $440,000 in cash bundled below the rear cargo compartment of a 1996 Ford Explorer was the largest seizure of cash ever made by the Lake County Sheriff's Drug Interdiction Task Force and the unit's patrols of area highways, Sheriff Roy Dominguez announced at a news conference Wednesday.

"Taking money from drug dealers is to take the profits from their illegal enterprise," Dominguez said, standing at a podium next to foot-high stacks of bills stuffed in plastic evidence sacks, including a bag of 1,000, $100 bills.

The sheriff's department will keep 75 percent of of the cash once it has been legally forfeited.

The Porter County Prosecutor's office also will receive some of the seized cash.

The cash likely was proceeds from a major drug sale, heading back to dealers in Chicago, said Cmdr. Zon Haralovich, head of the task force.

Detective Ed Karballa pulled over the Explorer for speeding and tailgating around 4:30 p.m. and said the driver, 27-year-old Erica Aramula-Fonseca, appeared nervous and could not provide detailed information about her destination.

Karballa located the secret compartment during a search of the vehicle, and a sweep of the vehicle by a narcotic-sniffing dog indicated drugs had been in the truck, though none were found. Fonseca said she wasn't aware the cash was in her vehicle and didn't know how it got there.

Asked his initial reaction to finding the bundles of cash, Karballa, said: "I thought it was a good day for the Drug Interdiction team and the Sheriff's Department." Later, Karballa conceded his first thought was "Whoa."

Karballa's previous largest seizure was $45,000. During his three years on the task force, he has been responsible for the seizure of $451,991, five weapons, 21âÂ

[Cakers]

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quote="jean
Fonseca, who said she was an illegal resident and apparently had no prior criminal record, faced only traffic violations and was released. Dominguez conceded Lake County officials likely will never see her again

She was an illegal resident and APPARENTLY had not prior criminal record. If she said she was an illegal resident why would they let her go. If I was driving that car and was suspicious of drugs, not to mention the $440,000 in cash, I would have been taken in and my car impounded. This is not fair. I think we should sue.

[loservillelabor]

Dominguez conceded Lake County officials likely will never see her again.

Whoever that money belonged to will see that nobody sees her again.