More than $144,000 in bundled cash was allegedly discovered by an Arkansas State Police trooper who recently stopped a pickup driving west on Interstate 30 near Arkadelphia, Ark.
A federal complaint filed Monday in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas accuses Esteban Oviedo-Apodaca of smuggling $144,795 in a false compartment of a silver 2008 Chevrolet truck. Trooper Derek Nietert pulled the truck over for a traffic violation at mile marker 62 in Clark County, Ark., as it traveled westbound on I-30.
Nietert noticed the transfer case of the pickup's drive train appeared to have been tampered with, so he took the truck to a shop for a closer inspection. Inside a false compartment, officers allegedly discovered 16 bundles of cash wrapped tightly in cellophane and duct tape.
"The bundles were opened and found to contain U.S. currency, which was then counted and totaled to be approximately $144,795," the complaint states.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents interviewed Oviedo-Apodaca on Jan. 11. According to the complaint, Oviedo-Apodaca was the sole occupant and is the registered owner of the truck. Oviedo-Apodaca allegedly admitted he expected to be paid $4,000 for smuggling the cash from the U.S. to Mexico.
"The I-30 corridor is well-known by federal and local law enforcement as a contraband- and currency-smuggling corridor," the complaint states.
Drugs typically travel east into the U.S., while cash typically travels west on I-30 toward Mexico.
Oviedo-Apodaca was represented by Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson at an initial appearance Jan. 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant. Oviedo-Apodaca remains in the custody of U.S. marshals.