cannabisnews.com: Suspected Drug Money Seized at Border!





Suspected Drug Money Seized at Border!
Posted by FoM on April 10, 1999 at 09:47:23 PT
$891,260 is seized at border!
Source: Arizona Central
Drug profits flowing into Mexico from Arizona are a $2 billion to $4 billion-a-year problem, but border inspectors in Douglas took a bite out of crime proceeds Wednesday by snagging $891,260 from a false truck bed. 
The cash seizure by U.S. Customs Service inspectors was the largest in a decade at the Douglas port of entry, resulting in the arrest of Sergio Daniel Soto, 20, of Bell, Calif. Customs Service officials say Soto was driving a 1989 Chevrolet pickup as it tried to cross into Mexico with the cash. Soto made an initial court appearance Thursday in Tucson on a charge of failing to report the money. He pleaded innocent, defense attorney Stephen Ralls said. James Tong, Customs port director, said the seizure provided Customs agents with leads to drug smuggling operations. Agents believe the cash was bound for a smuggling organization in Mexico, Tong said. Assistant Arizona Attorney General Cameron Holmes said an informal study several years ago suggested that $2 billion to $4 billion in drug proceeds cross Arizona's border into Mexico every year. Much of that is simply passing through from other states. Holmes, who leads a prosecution unit specializing in money-laundering cases, said much of the money comes from the Los Angeles area, particularly cocaine profits. Border inspectors have long searched vehicles entering the United States for drugs and contraband. Starting about 2 1/2 years ago, they also turned an eye on southbound traffic, targeting stolen vehicles, weapons and large amounts of unreported cash. International travelers are allowed to take money across the border, but they must report amounts above $10,000. Inspector Rolando Main, who detected Wednesday's stash, said he just started making random stops when the tan pickup arrived. "We were walking out, the vehicle was coming in, and -- 'boom' -- we met," Main said. The inspector said he knew immediately the truck bed didn't look right. Tong, the port director, said Soto grew nervous as agents questioned him. Meanwhile, inspectors used a drill to get a core sample from the truck bed. "The drill came out with green stuff on it," Tong noted, "and it wasn't marijuana." The truck had a false bed. Inside were 33 bundles of cash. Five border inspectors spent nearly 10 hours counting more than 44,000 bills in $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1 denominations. Butch Barrett, Customs' resident agent in charge, said the unusual number of small-denomination bills suggests the load was proceeds from a large street-level operation. Based on information developed after the seizure, a search warrant was served Thursday in Douglas, Barrett said. Several thousand more dollars were seized, but no more arrests were made. Barrett said investigators in Arizona and California are following up on additional leads. The smuggling and laundering of drug profits through Arizona is so large a problem that a Southwest Border Money Laundering Conference is convened regularly, allowing law-enforcement agents to compare ways to zero in on drug profiteers and their assets. Like northbound drugs, southbound drug profits typically are kept in stash houses in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix or Tucson until they can be loaded onto smuggling vehicles. Often, cash loads driven south are "what's getting paid for (drug) transportation and crossing services," Holmes said. The broader profits from bulk drug sales often are laundered through businesses in the United States and transferred south via wire or bank transfers, Holmes said. Nonetheless, border agents say many narco-traffickers would rather risk losing their cash at checkpoints like Douglas than run the gantlet of U.S. banking and tax laws that await money deposited in bank accounts or wired to Mexico. Once smuggled cash arrives in Mexico, Holmes said it most often is laundered through some of the trucking, produce and manufacturing businesses flourishing along the border. The largest seizure in Douglas was $1.2 million found going south in November 1989. Other large busts since then range from $98,000 to $241,000. In one case, Tong said, "an elderly man who was pretty dapperly dressed in sport coat and slacks" was stopped as he walked across the border with $98,430 strapped to his body. He had flown into Tucson from out of state. Soto, the man arrested Wednesday, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison plus a fine of up to $250,000. Pat Flannery can be reached at (602) 444-8629 or at pat.flannery pni.com via e-mail. Dennis Wagner can be reached at (602) 444-8874 or at dennis.wagner pni.com via e-mail. 
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