Border Patrol seizes $3M in smuggled cash destined for Mexico
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Border patrol agents seized $3 millon in illicit currency Tuesday. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
Two men were arrested this week after allegedly trying to smuggle $3 million in cash into Mexico from California.
In a statement, the Border Patrol said its agents tracked two cars suspected of driving in tandem on Interstate 15 in Escondido Tuesday. The agents stopped one of the cars, a Kia Forte, after it exited the highway.
When agents searched the Kia, they found nearly $34,000 stashed in the car's center console.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The second car, a Volkswagen Passat sped off after the intial stop, but was later found abandoned nearby. That car had more than $3 million packed in boxes in the trunk.
The driver was found hiding in some brush.
Both men -- one a 53-year-old U.S. citizen and the other a 41-year-old from Mexico -- were arrested on suspicion of currency smuggling.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities have described the case as the largest seizure of smuggled cash in the history of San Diego County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.