Mar.28, 2010
The 100th Judicial District Attorney's investigator arrested two men and seized more than $140,600 in cash during a traffic stop last week, the district attorney's office said Saturday.
Officials said investigator Danny Dawson stopped a Dodge pickup that was westbound on Interstate 40 for speeding about 10 a.m. Thursday near Conway.
When Dawson spoke with Leonel E. Urzua, 27, and Martin Andres Sanchez-Leal, 46, he witnessed "signs of criminal activity," officials said.
After he got consent to search the vehicle, Dawson allegedly located two false compartments - one in the intake manifold, which was empty, and the other underneath the middle seat in the pickup, authorities said.
Inside the second compartment, Dawson reportedly found vacuum-sealed bundles of money. In all, authorities seized $140,449 and the pickup.
Urzua and Sanchez-Leal were arrested on second-degree felony money laundering charges, the district attorney's office said.