see also: in July 2008:   CBP Discovers 2.7 Tons of Marijuana on Cargo Box Truck   Holiday Travel Reminder for Northwest Border Crossers   Current, Former CBP Employees Assist in Arrest of Purse Snatchers   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Failure to Register as Sex Offender   California SENTRI Participant in Hot Water, CBP Finds Dope in Vehicle   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Aggravated Sexual Assault on Minor   CBP Revokes Trusted Traveler Privileges After Finding Prohibited Items During Inspection ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Blaine, Wash. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pacific Highway port of entry arrested a 31-year-old Surrey, British Columbia, man for attempting to smuggle over one million dollars into the United States concealed in the cab of his commercial truck.

Navraj Bal was taken into custody on July 10 by CBP officers when a x-ray of his tractor-trailer combination revealed an anomaly in both sleeping bunks located in the berth of his cab. A narcotics detector canine named “Rover” was employed to search and alerted to the bunk area. Officers then conducted a thorough search of the bunks and determined that both contained modified compartments.

Using pry bars and other tools, officers retrieved a total of 22 vacuum sealed plastic bags from the two bunks which contained a total of $1,130,080 dollars. Bal was immediately taken into custody and turned over to agents of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

Bal was also a voluntary participant in the Free And Secure Trade (FAST) program, which is a U.S./Canada trusted traveler effort to provide expedited entry of approved commercial truck drivers crossing the northern border. A violation of this program subjects the participant to prosecution under the fullest extent of the law.

Federal law requires the reporting of all negotiable monetary instruments in excess of $10,000 when imported into or exported from the United States. Smuggling large sums of currency can result in an arrest and heavy fines. “Experience tells us that this is the criminal element attempting to circumvent the law of honest work and wages,” said Assistant Port Director Lynn Gardner. “While our focus is on terrorism prevention, interruption of the financial proceeds of crime is just as important to our law enforcement mission.”

This is the largest currency seizure ever in the Blaine area port system surpasses the previous records of $450,000 in July 2001 and a $373,000 at the Sumas port of entry in December 2007.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.