OCEANSIDE — The probe resulting from the arrest of a 23-year-old man and the seizure of $290,000 is ongoing, though the case will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s office, according to Virginia Kice, Western regional communications director for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The suspect, identified as Martin Rubio Romo, was stopped at around 10 a.m. Monday near the Harbor Drive off ramp of southbound Interstate 15 in Oceanside.
According to a press release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents were alerted by a K-9 officer to the trunk of the Romo’s vehicle, a 2015 Nissan Altima. Inside the trunk, agents found a sealed five-gallon bucket of paint.
On removing the lid, agents found $290,000 in cash, which, according to the agency, is suspected to be proceeds from illicit narcotic sales.
Romo was arraigned in Vista and is charged with two counts, the first for receiving/acquiring over $25,000 from controlled substance offence; and the second for transactions involving proceeds over $25,000.
Romo faces a maximum of four years if convicted.
1 comment
Four years as a result of local prosecution is a joke.
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