Thread: UPS Parcel of Cash Leads to Illegal Immigrants Arrests

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3281940
July 25, 2005, 11:29PM

UPS parcel of cash leads to immigrants' arrests
The FBI is looking into why $29,000 was hidden in package
By CINDY HORSWELL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The FBI and immigration authorities are working to unravel a mystery which they say involves two immigrants from India caught staying in the Houston area without legal documentation, possessing firearms and trying to use UPS to transport $29,000 in cash that they feigned was clothing to South Carolina.

FBI spokesman Al Tribble in Houston said Monday he could not reveal the names of the two immigrants who have been taken into custody until charges are filed, possibly today.

"The investigation is on-going in conjunction with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)," said Tribble.

Agents are still looking into the source of the cash and how it was intended to be used.

"This money could be meant for anything from terrorism to extortion to fraud or drugs. There's something bigger behind the scenes," said Tribble.

The investigation began after a UPS clerk in the small rural city of Mont Belvieu, east of Houston in Chambers County, thought a customer was behaving suspiciously.

"Usually, the most excitement that we see around here is when a cow gets out on the road," said Shalia Hampton, who runs the store on Eagle Drive.

Hampton's suspicions were aroused by a customer last Tuesday who paid $80 to ship a package overnight. It was supposed to contain only "clothing" and was sent to someone staying at the French Quarter Inn in Charleston, S.C.

The customer, wearing an earpiece connected to a cell phone, appeared to be receiving instructions about the package from the device, she said. The package was uninsured.

Minutes after the customer left, the UPS office received numerous inquiries by telephone from someone with a strong accent. The caller wanted to know when the package was "going out" and how to track it.

This package was shipped, and then the same customer appeared the next day with a similar package that he said was clothing, said Hampton. Not long after the customer left, the caller from out of the area began to make inquiries again, Hampton said.

"By this time, my clerk felt that package did not just contain clothing," she said, and alerted headquarters who directed a UPS driver to inspect the box's contents.

The driver found a layer of inexpensive clothing that was covering three smaller boxes filled with stacks of $100 bills wrapped in carbon paper.

"UPS policy does not allow the shipment of any cash," she said. Since the contents of the package had been misrepresented, the office alerted Mont Belvieu police and they brought in the FBI, she said.

UPS, at law enforcement request, did not return the package and cash to the customer. A specially trained dog was brought to the office and sniffed the money and "went crazy," indicating the cash might have been in contact with drugs or explosives, authorities said.

The customer had given UPS one name but had a different name attached to his phone number, Hampton said.

Hampton said the customer lived in the Anahuac area and had tried to mail other packages by UPS from the Wilcox Drug store. "I know some things, but I can't talk about it now," said Dave Wilcox, who oversees operations there.

Mont Belvieu's Police Chief J.D. Whitman said his office turned the case over to the FBI. The UPS customer's home has since been searched, and he and another immigrant have been taken into custody.

The FBI also has been questioning officials at the hotel where the package was sent.

Bernard Vischer, spokesman for the hotel, acknowledged spending "a lot of time" talking to the FBI about the case, but declined to speak on the record.

Tribble said the government does not have a problem with someone shipping cash as long as it's not misrepresented. He said a transaction receipt is required to document the shipment of large quantities of cash.

cindy.horswell@chron.com

India...now isn't that just swell. Aren't they the ones that just stole all our telemarketing jobs?

STOP THIS NONSENSE!!

Originally Posted by Judy

India...now isn't that just swell. Aren't they the ones that just stole all our telemarketing jobs?

STOP THIS NONSENSE!!

I HATE IT WHEN I HAVE TO CALL THESE PEOPLE FOR CABLE PROBLEMS. I CANT UNDERSTAND A WORD THEY SAY! THEY BRING OUT THE WORST IN ME!

Originally Posted by butterbean

Originally Posted by Judy

India...now isn't that just swell. Aren't they the ones that just stole all our telemarketing jobs?

STOP THIS NONSENSE!!

I HATE IT WHEN I HAVE TO CALL THESE PEOPLE FOR CABLE PROBLEMS. I CANT UNDERSTAND A WORD THEY SAY! THEY BRING OUT THE WORST IN ME!

I refuse to speak to anyone in INDIA. I always ask to be transferred to someone in the United States.

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Originally Posted by butterbean

Originally Posted by Judy

India...now isn't that just swell. Aren't they the ones that just stole all our telemarketing jobs?
STOP THIS NONSENSE!!

I HATE IT WHEN I HAVE TO CALL THESE PEOPLE FOR CABLE PROBLEMS. I CANT UNDERSTAND A WORD THEY SAY! THEY BRING OUT THE WORST IN ME!

I refuse to speak to anyone in INDIA. I always ask to be transferred to someone in the United States.

OH, I DO REQUEST TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THE U.S. BUT THEY ALWAYS TELL ME THAT THERE ISN'T ANYONE AVAILABLE. I SPOKE TO A REP IN MY AREA, AND IT'S TRUE, THAT IS ALL THEY HAVE AVAILABLE. IF I THREATEN TO TAKE MY BUSINESS ELSEWHERE, ITS 'OK, SORRY BLAH BLAH BLAH'. EVERYONE IS FORCED INTO ACCEPTING THIS CRAP!

I would rather go without cable than be forced to speak with someone in another country. I would call their corporate office and complain. Dell actually has moved some of its tech support back to the U.S. because they had so many complaints.