NEARLY $200,000 FOUND IN TOY BOXES DURING FAYETTE CO. TRAFFIC STOP

  

A South Texas man was arrested Tuesday near Flatonia after deputies discovered nearly $200,000 inside several toy boxes during a traffic stop.

Just before 12:45 p.m., Fayette County Sheriff’s Interdiction Investigator David Smith stopped a westbound vehicle on I-10 for a traffic infraction.

According to the sheriff’s office, Smith detected several criminal indicators and received consent to search the vehicle.  During the search, Smith found a luggage bag, which held three boxes of toys.  The sheriff’s office said the boxes had an inconsistent weight for the toys that should have been in them.

Smith then discovered several vacuum sealed bundles of United States currency, which were hidden and packaged in a manner consistent with drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.  The money was taken to the bank and totaled $199,000.

The driver, 64-year-old Edmundo Lozano Rendon of McAllen, was arrested and charged with Money Laundering between $150,000 and $300,000, a second degree felony.  He was taken to the Dan R. Beck Justice Center.