Douglas CBP Officers Seize Unreported Currency

Douglas woman arrested for $50,000 smuggling attempt

Douglas, Ariz. — Customs and Border Protection officers assigned to the Tucson Field Office seized $50,000 of unreported U.S. currency Thursday from a female U.S. citizen headed for Mexico through the Douglas Port.

Officers conducting outbound inspections referred a 2001 Chevy Tahoe driven by 25-year-old Jeanette Paola Hernandez, of Douglas, for additional questioning and a closer examination of her sport utility vehicle. A subsequent search of the SUV turned up six small packages wrapped in black tape, concealing the currency. 

CBP officers at the Douglas Port of Entry seized $50,000 in undeclared currency hidden in a sport utility vehicle.

The unreported funds and vehicle were processed for seizure. The subject was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Since launching the Southwest Border Initiative in March 2009, unprecedented shifts in staffing and infrastructure at the Ports of Arizona have brought a higher level of focus and intensity to their operations. These shifts have resulted in higher narcotics interceptions and tougher outbound enforcement operations yielding record illicit currency, weapons, and wanted felon interceptions. 

Individuals arrested may be charged by complaint, the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity, which raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent unless and 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 the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.