PHOENIX -- Officers with the Department of Public Safety recently seized nearly $200,000 in suspected drug-related cash last week during routine traffic stops, authorities said.
Last Wednesday an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer stopped a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 17 at milepost 262 near Cordes Junction for an equipment violation. A search of the vehicle revealed a false pallet of pressboard on a flatbed trailer. Inside was $134,098 in suspected drug cash.
Delano Pierre Jones, 42, of Detroit was arrested and charged with money laundering.
The next day, on Interstate 10 near Marana, a DPS Officer observed two vehicles traveling in tandem. He reportedly stopped one of the vehicles, a white sedan, for following too close. Another DPS officer stopped the other vehicle, a Range Rover SUV, for impeding traffic. Officials say the driver of the SUV fled on foot.
A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of 89 pounds of marijuana. A search of the sedan revealed a bundle of currency totaling $61,729. With the assistance of the Marana Police Department, the subject was located and later arrested.
The driver of the SUV, Loushandou Hasani Brathwaite, 34, of Florida, was arrested for possession of marijuana for sale and two outstanding felony warrants.
Nigel N. Bennett, 41, of Florida, was the driver of the white sedan. He was arrested on money laundering charges, as was his passenger, 31-year-old Derry Ebanks, also of Florida.
