2 Mexican Customs Agents Seized With U.S. Cash

Two Mexican Customs agents were in custody Thursday, accused of trying to take $2.4 million across the border from the United States, U.S. Customs officials said.

The Mexican officials based in Matamoros, Mexico, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, were charged with failure to report that they were leaving the United States with more than $10,000. The violation of the U.S. Currency Reporting Act carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and fines up to $500,000.

U.S. Customs inspectors found the cash in seven cardboard boxes Wednesday in the back of a 1983 Jeep Waggoneer at the Gateway International Bridge, said Jay Silvestro, Customs assistant special agent in charge for the San Antonio district.

Silvestro said the money was in different denominations, including $50,000 in $1 bills, and weighed about 500 pounds.

Federal agents armed with semiautomatic assault rifles guarded an office where the money was put on display for reporters Thursday. The money eventually will be forfeited to the U.S. Treasury, he said.

Dealer plates in the vehicle, which also was seized, showed that it was purchased in Houston on March 23.

Customs officials in Matamoros confirmed that the men arrested, Juan Miguel Lizardi Garcia, 33, and Alberto Felipe Laurent Ayala, 32, worked for the Mexican government agency at Matamoros.

Silvestro called it “a distinct possibility” that the cash was related to illegal drug trafficking but that had not been confirmed. Preliminary tests did not turn up any drug residue on the money, he said, although more tests were being done.

Brownsville Port Director Jorge Flores said the men were in Mexican customs uniforms when they were arrested.

If the men had reported the money, it might not have been seized, but agents would have started an investigation, Silvestro said.