33-year-old Conor Guckian, who used $20,000 in cash to charter a private plane from Nashville to California, "was arrested on money laundering charges after an airport police dog smelled narcotics on $153,000 stuffed into his suitcase, according to a police affidavit released Tuesday," as reported by Reuters. Airport police were alerted to the "suspicious individual," according to the affidavit.
The K-9 unit detected the odor of drugs on the thousands of dollars in the in his bag, according to the document.
"The officer then waited for Guckian to arrive to board the plane, where [he] told officers he was transporting the large sum in order to buy gold in California... He consented to a second search and the second dog detected the narcotic odor on the cash, which was divided into 32 bundles secured with rubber bands," Reuters also reported.
Guckian soon admitted to authorities "that the $153,000 was indeed his and he confessed that he made sure that money in his bank accounts never reached $10,000 in order to prevent an investigation from the IRS," according to news reports. He also revealed to police that he was planning on using the $153,000 to purchase gold. Guckian has remaind in jail since Tuesday in lieu of $10,000 bond.
"Authorities said Guckian told police he was chartering the plane because he thought it would be a safer way to transport the cash, although he had flown commercial jets to Nashville from New York and Chicago... [He] also told police he structured his bank accounts to show balances under $10,000 to avoid government detection and said he was previously arrested in New York for possession for resale of cocaine," as reported by Reuters.
