A Texas sheriff’s deputy seized nearly $110,000 in cash during a traffic stop on Interstate 10 — nearly 250 miles from the Mexican border. The deputy reportedly found the cash in body carriers on a Mexican woman traveling with her husband and a juvenile male.
Fayette County, Texas, Sheriff Keith Korenek reported that Drug Interdiction Investigator David Smith stopped a white Jeep Cherokee on Interstate 10 near Flatonia. During the traffic stop, Investigator Smith observed several “criminal indicators” leading to further investigation.
Smith obtained permission to search the vehicle from the driver, who was later identified as 45-year-old Efrain Guadalupe Hernandez Laurel. During the search, Smith found “suspicious packing materials consistent with drug concealment,” Sheriff Korenek reported. The materials were located in an ice chest.
Smith then interviewed the female passenger, 34-year-old Adrianna Perez Valencia, a Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico citizen. The investigator observed the woman wearing a bulky coat. Inside the coat, Smith found multiple wrapped bundles of cash “in a body carrier consistent with drug couriers.
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The investigator arrested the pair and seized the cash. He then transported them to the Dan R. Beck Justice Center in La Grange, Texas, where they are now facing charges of Felony Money Laundering. Sheriff Korenek stated the total cash seized was $109,608.
The sheriff’s office released the juvenile son to a family member.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Chase Grillet assisted Smith during the traffic stop.
Breitbart Texas contacted the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office for additional information regarding the foreign national. A response was not available at press time.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
