28-04-2025
Man held after bundles of cash found during traffic stop
Waco, Tx (FOX 44) – A traffic stop for speeding led a DPS trooper to find 27 bundles of cash believed to total over $100,000.
Gustavo Santos-Jaime of Tamaulipas, Mexico was taken into custody on charges of money laundering over $30,000 and booked into the McLennan County Jail.
An arrest affidavit stated a DPS trooper made a traffic stop on southbound I-35 in the east Waco area Thursday night after spotting a Chevrolet Spark MX going 80 miles per hour in a 65-mile zone.
The trooper noted the back seat passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and a two-year-old child in the back was not in a car seat.
The affidavit stated that the trooper became suspicious of possible criminal activity because the driver's story about what he did in his supposed home in Dallas kept changing and conflicted with what the passenger said. The trooper then asked for consent to search the vehicle which was denied. The trooper's canine partner then was deployed to conduct a free air sniff around the exterior of the vehicle and alerted to the smell of possible narcotics.
The affidavit stated that a probable cause search was conducted and in the passenger floorboard the trooper located a cardboard box with two black bags inside. Inside the bags were found 27 bundles of banded U.S. currency.
The affidavit stated that after Santos Jaime was read his Miranda rights he gave a statement that he was transporting the bulk cash for someone 'he met at a gas station' as a favor. The affidavit said he was told the amount of cash was approximately $100,000 but could be more. The affidavit stated Santos-Jaime said he picked up the money from a person at a Dollar General Store in Dallas and was to take it to a location in Mexico.
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Santos-Jaime was taken into custody on the money laundering charge and the vehicle was released to the passenger.
Texas DPS Criminal Investigation Division was notified and responded. The currency was turned over to CID awaiting an official count at a bank.
Santos Jaime remained in the McLennan County Jail Monday on the money laundering charge plus was being held without bond on an immigration charge.
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