Border Patrol seizes $462,000 during smuggling attempt

By Jen Lebron Kuhney
February 23, 2011 at 8:56 p.m.

CARLSBAD — Border Patrol agents seized $462,000 in cash during an alleged smuggling attempt by a Mexican man on Tuesday, authorities said.

The 54-year-old man was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup erratically southbound on Interstate 5 when Border Patrol agents pulled him over near Tamarack Avenue at 9:30 a.m. The man’s suspicious behavior prompted agents to have a drug dog inspect the vehicle, Border Patrol said.

The dog alerted agents to a hidden compartment on the front passenger side of the truck. Agents found 42 bundles of cellophane-wrapped currency in the compartment near the engine firewall.

The man and the cash were turned over to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement branch of Homeland Security.

jen.kuhney@uniontrib.com • (858) 480-9582 • Twitter @jenkuhney

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