Tijuana, Baja California — A California woman remains in custody after being arrested by Mexico’s National Guard. Custom Custom agents requested National Guard assistance after locating over $150,000 USD cash inside her vehicle.
The San Diego woman was pulled over and inspected from the ‘nothing to declare’ lane Tuesday. National Customs Agency of Mexico located the undeclared U.S. cash, which they reported to be equivalent to more than 2.9 million pesos.
“Members of both institutions were carrying out surveillance inspections at the Otay checkpoint in the border area of Tijuana when the driver of a pickup truck with license plates from the state of California, entered through the “nothing to declare” lane,” National Guard reported.
During a preventive inspection to confirm that she was not entering with undeclared merchandise or objects that could constitute a crime, they located several green packages inside a pink suitcase.
“When questioned, she said she did not know the amount, so agents counted the currency, finding a total of $150,155 U.S. dollars, equivalent to approximately 2.9 million pesos, which did not have the declaration approved by the Tax Administration Service (SAT),” they explained in a statement.
The woman was arrested for violating Article 9 of the Customs Law. She was read her Rights and registered in the National Registry of Detentions. Along with the cash, she was made available to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s office in the state.
Last week, another California woman was arrested at the border trying to enter Mexico, also in the ‘nothing to declare lane’ after authorities located 47 kilograms crystal meth hidden in her trunk.