$648,659 Found in Traveler’s Bags

Sheriff’s deputies seized two suitcases containing $648,659 from a man at Los Angeles International Airport, but the man denied any knowledge of the money, authorities said.

Eli Yacobovi, 38, was not detained “since he didn’t commit any apparent crimes,” but authorities kept the cash, Deputy Roger Hom said.

Yacobovi was stopped at the airport Friday night after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department received a tip from the Sheriff’s Department in Wayne County, Mich., and brought drug-detection dogs to meet his flight, Hom said.

The dogs alerted authorities to Yacobovi’s bags, but only the money was found when they were inspected, Hom said.

Yacobovi, who gave authorities permission to search the suitcases, was allowed to leave when he denied ownership of the money, the deputy said.

“It’s not against the law to be carrying money in suitcases,” Sheriff’s Deputy Van Mosley said. “There’s no law that says you can’t do that.”

“They had no authority to take him in,” Hom said. “If they had found drugs that would have been different.”