Kansas trooper finds $350K of suspected drug money hidden in gas tank of truck on I-70

A state trooper who pulled over a pickup on a Kansas interstate found nearly $350,000 of suspected drug money hidden in the vehicle’s gas tank.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a civil asset forfeiture case in U.S. District Court in Wichita, asking a judge to give the money to the government. It is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.

The $349,810 in cash was “rubber-banded” and “wrapped in vacuum-sealed plastic bags” hidden in the fuel tank of a 2007 Ford F-150, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper wrote in an affidavit. The trooper, who is also a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer, said the concealed money was packaged in a way that is “consistent with drug proceeds.” A certified drug detection dog indicated the seized cash smelled of controlled substances.

The suspected drug money was found Dec. 13 during a traffic stop on westbound I-70 in Wabaunsee County, according to court documents. Trooper Derek Carr pulled over the F-150 for a traffic violation, and the truck was searched. The affidavit does not detail how Carr established probable cause or obtained permission for the search.

The driver, Francisco Javier Mata Reyes, told the KHP trooper that he was traveling from Chicago to Pasco, Washington, but refused to answer questions about the money. Mata Reyes has a criminal history involving money laundering, the affidavit states.