Border Patrol Seizes $290K in Cash Near Oceanside

OCEANSIDE, CA – U.S. Border Patrol agents on Monday arrested a man who was smuggling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Border Patrol said agents stopped the 23-year-old man's vehicle around 10 a.m. on Interstate 5 near the Harbor Drive exit in Oceanside. After a Border Patrol dog alerted agents to the trunk of the 2015 Nissan Altima, they discovered a sealed 5-gallon bucket of paint.

Six vacuum-sealed bundles containing $290,000 in U.S. cash were stashed inside the paint can, the Border Patrol said. The cash is suspected to be proceeds from illicit narcotics sales.

“This seizure is a product of the tremendous abilities of Border Patrol agents and canine assets to detect and interdict smuggling activity along the Interstate 5 corridor,” said Thomas Blanks, patrol agent in charge of the San Clemente Border Patrol Station.

The Border Patrol said the man was arrested and turned over to agents from Homeland Security Investigations. The Border Patrol seized the vehicle and cash.

Top photo: Border Patrol agents confiscated $290,000 from the five-gallon paint can. / Credit: U.S. Border Patrol

Second photo: Border Patrol agents patrolling I-5 on Monday found bundles of cash stashed inside a paint can in the trunk of a 2015 Nissan Altima. / Credit: U.S. Border Patrol