TIJUANA — Two California women were arrested as they attempted to cross the border from San Ysidro to Tijuana on Saturday with approximately $2.5
million in cash hidden in their car, Mexican authorities said.
The women tried to smuggle the cash across the border in an SUV with California license plates about 10 p.m. Saturday, authorities said Monday. Their
names were not released.
Mexican border agents sent the pair to a secondary inspection after they went through the “nothing to declare” lane. The cash was discovered
during a search of the vehicle, according to Isaías Bertín Sandoval, Baja California’s secretary of federal public safety.
Mexican law requires people crossing the border with more than $10,000 in cash to declare the amount to authorities.
An investigation of the “historic cash seizure” was continuing, federal authorities said.
The news organization Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias first reported the seizure. It said 13 packages of cash were initially discovered in the
women’s suitcases. Then a search of the vehicle revealed 87 more packages concealed throughout the SUV — all in U.S. currency.
Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, the head of security research programs at the Center for U.S.-Mexican studies at UC San Diego, said the seizure was an
indication that the cross-border drug trafficking business was thriving amid the coronavirus pandemic, and she speculated that Mexican authorities may
have been tipped off by their U.S. counterparts.
“Either you have the worst possible luck in the world, or there was some info coming from the U.S. that ‘Hey, this car may have bulk cash in
it,’” said Farfán-Méndez.
In January, Mexican authorities seized $500,000 in cash from a woman as she crossed into Tijuana through the Otay Port of Entry.
In the Mexican justice system, authorities do not release the full names of suspects or defendants in criminal trials. Their last names are disclosed
only if they are convicted of a crime.
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If so I might have been available to assist
Call me next time, I work cheapSFandH - 7-3-2020 at 08:56 AM
So where's the money now?
I wonder who gets it.
Finders keepers?pacificobob - 7-3-2020 at 12:45 PM
ill wager somebody dropped a dime.
i had an friend who was the boss of us customs at a moderate sized US port.
i asked him about a somewhat large seizure that was in the news. when I asked how it was discovered...he sort of paused and then said they were
tipped off....and...nearly All significant busts involved a rat.LancairDriver - 7-3-2020 at 12:59 PM
So were they just going over to do a little shopping? Doesn’t hurt to bring a little extra cash just in case.Hook - 7-3-2020 at 07:33 PM
I thought laundered cartel money usually goes in the opposite direction?
These gals need a better GPS in da car.AKgringo - 7-3-2020 at 07:48 PM
If the money had been "laundered", it would be in an account and wire transferred. That pile of cash has some "splaining" to do!PaulW - 7-4-2020 at 07:55 AM
How many times have you crossed the border and were just ignored as you drove past the Mexican officials?
Very unlucky for the money movers.Lee - 7-4-2020 at 09:46 AM
$2.5M = 2 med. suitcases and a tote.
If a dog got near the car, it would have been triggered. They're trained to smell money.
Guess we know where the money was going.BajaTed - 7-4-2020 at 10:53 AM
SUV was being watched by a DEA drone for a long time. Those agents @ the "inspection point" weren't run of the mill either.
Its 50/50 that $50 million crossed soon after.
BajaBlanca - 7-4-2020 at 12:15 PM
Oh my gosh - that is a lot of cash! I could do so much good with it.
