Two accused of smuggling cash for cartel to be re-arraigned next week

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A motion hearing was held Wednesday for a man and woman accused of assisting with a bulk cash smuggling scheme across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trinidad Conde Vela appeared before a judge on Tuesday in connection with the cash smuggling case that occurred in early May.

An affidavit obtained by ValleyCentral revealed that on May 2, federal agents conducted an undercover surveillance outside of Conde Vela's Brownsville residence.

At about 9 p.m., Conde Vela was seen leaving the residence in a Nissan Altima and driving to R's Super Station, located at 55 Kee Street. He then drove back to his residence, the affidavit reads.

At about 9:45 p.m., while undercover, agents observed two people, Angelica Rodriguez Gonzalez and Alejandro Alonso Saucedo Garcia, drive into Conde Vela's driveway in a red Fiat and stay there for a couple of minutes before driving off.

Agents began surveillance of Gonzalez and Garcia's vehicle until they attempted to travel to Mexico via the Brownsville and Matamoros International Bridge.

At the port of entry, officers discovered a total of $184,095 hidden in Gonzalez and Garcia's vehicle. At first, $30,000 was found around Gonzalez's waistband. The rest was found concealed in the vehicle's dashboard.

According to a criminal complaint, both Gonzalez and Garcia did not report to Customs and Border Protection that they were carrying currency exceeding the $10,000 threshold, a federal offense.

Both Gonzalez and Garcia admitted to picking up bulk currency concealed in a suitcase from Conde Vela's residence before attempting to cross the port of entry.

Agents also discovered information on Garcia's phone that suggests he and Conde Vela were involved in bulk cash smuggling.

Garcia admitted he had received bulk cash from Conde Vela six times prior, further admitting that the money was going to co-conspirators with the cartel.

Federal records indicate that both Conde Vela and Gonzalez's defense have no pending motions to argue and that a guilty plea is ready to be set.

Gonzalez has a status conference scheduled for Friday. Conde Vela is scheduled to be re-arraigned on July 24 and Gonzalez is expected to be rearraigned on July 23.

Conde Vela and Gonzalez's final pretrial hearings are set for July 29. A jury selection for their cases are set for August 4.