A truck displaying a false Buyer Tag tag near the Navasota River was pulled over this week, the driver eventually being arrested for being found with $70,000 in cash, and a stolen vehicle.
The arrest report from Brazos County says they stopped the truck on Wednesday morning near Dynalloy on Highway 6. Seeing the expired buyer tag displayed in the window, it was also noted it had been altered to present a later expiration date.
Upon speaking with the driver, 26 year old Jose Samuel Castaneda-Solano of River Oaks, he presented a Mexico ID card. He said he was coming from looking at 18-wheelers in Katy, and returning to Dallas in a day trip. The report noted that no truck dealerships are open around 6 am, the approximate time Solano would have been in Katy.
Officers also found the truck to not be his, and Solano said he paid a man named “Skittles” for it, and that was who displayed the tag. The VIN on the vehicle was registered to North Carolina, but returned no recrds.
When asked of anything illegal in the car, Solano said no, but after hesitation, said there was about 60-70 thousand in cash to “pay for the truck” inside. In the truck bed, officers found opened narcotics packaging with residue, plus three paper bags that contained shrink wrapped US Currency, totaling out to $73,000.
Solano was arrested, and faces charges of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and Money Laundering between $30,000 and $150,000. He remains in jail on an Immigration Hold as well.
