Nogales CBP Officers Nab Currency Smuggler at Port

Nogales, AZ. — Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office seized nearly $169,000 in unreported U.S. currency Sunday from a man headed for Mexico through the Dennis DeConcini Port. 

Officers conducting outbound inspections selected a 35-year-old Mexican man, traveling with his minor nephew, for additional questioning and a closer examination of his Toyota truck. When officers noticed the truck’s speakers had been tampered with, they decided to remove them for further inspection and found 19 packages containing $168,998.

The unreported funds and vehicle were processed for seizure. The man was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The boy was released to his mother without further incident.

Individuals arrested are charged with a criminal complaint, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

CBP's Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.