by Mike Colón
mcolon@cbs4qc.com
A traffic stop let to the largest seizure of cash by the Illinois State Police in years.
On Saturday afternoon a trooper stopped a car on Interstate 55 near Collinsville for an illegal license plate cover.
The trooper began to suspect that the driver was involved in some kind of illegal activity and asked for consent to search the car.
The driver, Carole Galvez of Gila Bend, Arizona agreed to the search and the trooper found 27 vacuum-sealed plastic bags containing $1,589,860. She was arrested and charged with money laundering.
ISP District 11 commander Captain Brad Parsons said "Cash amounts this large are usually connected to illegal drug trafficking...when our officers apply training and solid police work, they are able to hinder the ability of these criminal enterprises from harming more people."
