Officers intercept $436 K at Nogales port of entry

by Christina Stymfal-Thompson, KOLD News 13 Web Producer
Wednesday, June 8th, 1:10 pm

The following is a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection:

CBP officers working at the Dennis DeConcini Port in Arizona seized more than $436,000 in illicit outbound currency during two incidents on June 6.

Officers conducting outbound operations at the port referred a 19 year-old Mexican male driving a red sedan for a secondary inspection. Further inspection led to the discovery of two tractor trailer batteries in the vehicle’s trunk. Subsequently, officers observed the batteries had been tampered with and removed six packages containing $62,330 of undeclared U.S. currency from them. The subject was taken into custody and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.

In a separate incident, officers conducting outbound operations at the port referred a 42-year-old Mexican male driving a white SUV for a secondary inspection after they observed evidence of tampering with the front of the vehicle. During further inspection, a non-factory compartment was discovered in the vehicle’s firewall. Subsequently, 23 packages containing a total of $374,110 undeclared U.S. currencies were removed from the compartment. The subject was taken into custody and turned over to ICE HSI for further investigation.

“Outbound operations prevent weapons and undeclared currency from making their way south into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico,â€