Tennessee Highway Patrol officers have seized over $4 million in cash in duct-taped bundles hidden in a tractor-trailer.
A highway patrol officer pulled over the California-based truck last Saturday on Interstate 40 in Tennessee’s Cumberland County. The trailer was stopped for following too closely.
What started as a standard commercial vehicle inspection took a turn when the officer became suspicious after finding discrepancies in the driver’s log book and got permission to search the vehicle.
Using search dogs, local police discovered the duct-taped bundles of cash stashed inside sealed cases of bottled water. Authorities have seized a total of $4,078,713 in cash.
“I-40 is one of the top drug trafficking corridors in the nation,” said Bill Gibbons, commissioner for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security in a statement.
According to federal authorities, 42-year-old Armando Guzman of Moreno Valley, Calif. and his co-driver Francisco Javier Cruz were charged with interstate travel with the intent to promote drug trafficking conspiracy. The tractor-trailer the two men were driving has also been seized.
A highway patrol officer pulled over the California-based truck last Saturday on Interstate 40 in Tennessee’s Cumberland County. The trailer was stopped for following too closely.
What started as a standard commercial vehicle inspection took a turn when the officer became suspicious after finding discrepancies in the driver’s log book and got permission to search the vehicle.
Using search dogs, local police discovered the duct-taped bundles of cash stashed inside sealed cases of bottled water. Authorities have seized a total of $4,078,713 in cash.
“I-40 is one of the top drug trafficking corridors in the nation,” said Bill Gibbons, commissioner for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security in a statement.
According to federal authorities, 42-year-old Armando Guzman of Moreno Valley, Calif. and his co-driver Francisco Javier Cruz were charged with interstate travel with the intent to promote drug trafficking conspiracy. The tractor-trailer the two men were driving has also been seized.
