YUMA, Ariz. – Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested three United States citizens, confiscated nearly $100,000 in cash in suspected drug smuggling money and seized a stolen vehicle in two separate events near Blythe, California.
be drug proceeds.
In the first event Thursday at approximately 6 p.m., Blythe Station agents conducted a vehicle stop on a four-door sedan traveling eastbound on Interstate 10. Agents requested, and were granted consent, to search the vehicle after the driver, a male 23-year-old United States citizen, admitted to having drug paraphernalia. During the search, agents located a trash bag containing $96,565 in cash concealed in the rear compartment of the vehicle. Additional evidence was discovered in the vehicle linking the money to drug smuggling activities. The driver claimed that the cash did not belong to him and it was seized by agents.
On Friday at approximately 2:20 a.m., agents stopped a vehicle traveling on I-10. A record check on the sports utility vehicle revealed the license plate belonged to a different car, and the stopped vehicle was reported stolen. Additional records checks on the male driver and female passenger showed warrants for both subjects. The driver, a 39-year-old male from Laguna Woods, California, had an extraditable warrant out of California for dangerous drugs. The female passenger, a 30-year-old from Bossier City, Louisiana, was found to have a failure to appear warrant out of Louisiana. A small amount of drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle. The driver and passenger were arrested for the warrants and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Federal law allows agents to charge individuals by complaint, a method that allows the filing of criminal activity charges without inferring guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.