A Chinese national, resident in Lisbon, has been stopped at the border on the Spanish side with €235,000 in cash hidden in his car’s chassis.
The man was intercepted by officers of Guadia Civil at Caia, on the border between Badajoz and Elvas on Wednesday.
The Guardia Civil de Badajoz, which seized the cash, stated that the offender "was transporting money from Madrid to his place of residence,” which is in Lisbon.
The Chinese national was foiled in his attempt to bring this illegally high amount of cash into the country when a sniffer dog trained to detect drugs, alerted officers that there was something hidden in the car’s structure.
The man was ‘excessively nervous,’ according to officers, so they proceeded to make a thorough inspection of his car and found bundles of notes hidden behind holes in the chassis.
The man had no cash exit declaration so the money has been taken from him and put in the Bank of Spain in Badajoz for safekeeping while inquiries continue into whether the money is legitimate or not.
The Chinese man said he was unaware that he had to declare cash sums of over €10,000 before taking them over the border.
The law also states that the owner of the money "will have to certify the legal provenance of the same,” which will be interesting.
Comments
The Chinese travellers / smugglers/ money launderers in question probably thought it was a perk that went with the Golden Visa they'd just paid for !
'Positive discrimination' I expect. The hauls of cash from several Chinese travellers during the papal border controls this year may have given rise to increased border checks