Three men were arrested Wednesday after authorities found $1.5 million hidden in suitcases in a Midtown house, an official said Thursday.
The money was found in a residence in the 700 block of North Richey Boulevard, near East Speedway and North Alvernon Way, according to a news release from the Department of Public Safety.
The currency seizure is one of the largest for the Counter Narcotics Alliance, the release said.
DPS detectives and the CNA — a multiagency task force — went to the house after receiving a report of suspected drug activity, the release said. Several suitcases were seen being taken into the house from a vehicle.
Task force officers set up surveillance until a 2007 Toyota Avalon left the house, the release said. A DPS officer stopped the driver in the 4400 block of East Speedway for traffic violations at which time the officer's dog, Rico, alerted the officer to check the vehicle.
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Money was found inside, and the driver, Terrance L. Davis, 31, of Tucson, was arrested.
At the house, detectives found Calvin C. Wiggins, 26, of Detroit along with four suitcases stashed inside trash cans next to the house, the release said.
Two more suitcases were apparently thrown over the fence into a neighbor's yard. Rico was taken to the house to check out the suitcases and alerted the detectives to the odor of drugs, said Sgt. Mark Morlock of the alliance's major violators unit.
Detectives believe the money came from illegal drug activity, he said.
Davis and Wiggins were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and money laundering. The investigation led to the arrest of James L. Reaves, 20, of Detroit on the same charges. They were booked into the Federal Correction Institution in Tucson.
