EDWARDSVILLE - Authorities are seeking to claim $90,000 cash from a man who said he was heading to Kansas City to buy catalytic converters.
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The money was found in a glove box after a BMW X6 was stopped for speeding on westbound Interstate 70 near Troy.
A trooper said in a sworn statement that the driver appeared to be “overly nervous.” Catalytic converters contain precious metals such as platinum that can be sold on the black market.
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed suit to claim the money. The money was seized on Dec. 2. The suit for forfeiture is under a state law that allows authorities to obtain assets believed to be connected to the drug trade.
The driver told the officer that he was heading to Kansas to buy 400 catalytic converters from a seller who would accept cash only. He gave an officer permission to search the car.
The officer found nine-banded bundles of cash with dates stamped on the money bands. The bands were stamped Nov. 29, 2022, not 2021, the affidavit said. The officer informed the driver that his story sounded suspicious.
The driver was arrested, and the patrol officer called in drug agents with a dog that alerted for the smell of narcotics on the car and on the money.
The statement claims the driver did not have a legitimate source of income for that amount of money, that the driver has a criminal history, that his statements were inconsistent and lacked veracity, that he has no visible means of support and that he admitted to money laundering.
The driver has not been charged.
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