Burning Atlanta

Don't you know the Border Patrol was hooting over this one. Those guys live for big seizures of drugs and money, illegals are only a sideline to keep them busy until the next big bust. (I don't really know that, I'm just speculating)

Oops.

Customs agents found nearly $1.9 million hidden in the doors of a sport utility vehicle at an El Paso port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Tuesday.

Agents found the cash, wrapped in bundles and hidden in the doors of a 1992 Ford Expedition, after using a density meter to inspect the vehicle Monday morning, CBP spokesman Roger Maier said.

"The driver was a little bit nervous, a little bit shaky," Maier said. "So the agents used ... a density meter. It registered higher than normal, consistent with contraband. They started looking closer at the doors and spotted, not drugs which we were expecting, but currency." A LITTLE shaky? I would have fainted if I got stopped by the Border Patrol if I was caught hauling so much as an undeclared can of shaving cream. "Mr. Burns, About that nearly 2 million we found in your truck." "THUD."

Saul Sanchez, a 42-year-old Mexican national who was living legally in Kansas City, Kan., was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on charges of currency smuggling. His 2-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, and his wife, a legal permanent resident, were both released.

Cash in the amount of $10,000 or higher must be declared if an individual is entering or leaving the U.S. Oh, I'm sure it just slipped his mind.

Maier said the seizure — $1,858,085 — is among the largest ever cash seizures in El Paso. The largest was in 1997 when agents stopped a vehicle headed to Mexico and found $5,649,760.

And the understatement: