State police seized more than $1 million in cash today from a tractor-trailer they had stopped for a routine inspection on the Maine Turnpike.
The Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit stopped the Texas-registered truck in the southbound lanes in York about noon.
Police said the driver, Jhon Rivera-Ramirez, 35, and his passenger, Jose Javier Perez, 46, had false logs. Rivera-Ramirez was arrested on that charge.
When police searched the trailer, they found the cash, which they said in a news release may have been smuggled.
“In recent years, the smuggling of bulk currency has become the preferred method for criminals to move illicit proceeds across our borders,” the release said. “It is a crime to smuggle or attempt to smuggle over $10,000 in currency or monetary instruments into or out of the United States.”
State police Lt. Thomas Kelly said the driver was taken to the Kittery Police Department, where he was arraigned and made bail.
The money was seized as evidence as the investigation continues, Kelly said. Kelly said he couldn’t talk about where the truck came from or where it was going.
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