April 11, 2009 Laredo, Texas
$1,000,035 U.S Dollars seized from a Freightliner tractor at the border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Laredo port of entry conducting outbound operations on the Easter weekend and seized $1 million in undeclared currency from a driver enrolled in a trusted shipper program.

The seizure occurred on April 11, at World Trade Bridge. CBP officers conducting outbound (southbound) inspections referred a 1999 Freightliner tractor hauling a shipment of appliances driven by Jose Luis Martinez Gonzalez, of 26 years of age and Mexican citizen from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico for a secondary examination.

The driver gave a false declaration for currency in excess of $10,000, weapons or ammunition. A routine inspection of the tractor cab resulted in a canine alert to the mattress in the sleeper cab area. A non-intrusive imaging system scan indicated anomalies in the same area. A closer visual inspection of the area revealed tape-wrapped bundles of U.S. currency hidden under the mattress.CBP officers discovered bundles containing $1,000,035.00 in undeclared currency underneath the mattress in the sleeper area of the cab. CBP officers arrested Martinez Gonzalez on federal bulk cash smuggling charges and turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents who investigated the seizure. The tractor was seized by CBP officers.

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection