Two men traveling from Arizona were arrested by the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of money laundering when police found $60,650 in cash inside their vehicle on Aug. 6, according to an arrest affidavit.
A deputy pulled over driver Sanjeev Kumar, 44, and passenger Sombir Sinsu, 27, outside of Three Springs around 1 a.m. while following their silver 2025 Honda CRV on suspicion of connection to a different suspect. Deputies stopped the suspects after the car allegedly drove erratically on a private road.
Rather than sitting in the passenger seat, Sinsu was sitting in the backseat. Sinsu allegedly told officers he was sitting in the back seat to rest, but he did not have any blankets or pillows, which made the arresting deputy suspicious he was guarding something, according to the affidavit.
When a deputy questioned Kumar about where he was traveling, he allegedly told them that he came from Phoenix to visit a museum in Durango. Kumar allegedly could not name the museum, and the deputy noticed there was minimal luggage inside the vehicle.
The deputy was suspicious of his answer and the lack of luggage, and identified the behavior is consistent with individuals who may be traveling in connection to illegal activity, according to the affidavit.
The deputy asked Kumar to step to the back of the vehicle and Kumar opened the trunk of the vehicle without being asked to do so. The deputy found this behavior peculiar, asked Kumar if he would consent to a search, which he allegedly agreed to.
Another deputy asked Sinsu if there was a large amount of cash in the vehicle, and he allegedly said no. When a deputy searched the vehicle, he found an electric vehicle battery with a manila envelope pushed underneath inside a spare tire hatch. The deputy found cash inside of the envelope and counted it to be $25,100, according to the arrest affidavit.
Under the same battery on the driver’s side, a deputy allegedly found $35,550 in cash.
Money laundering is characterized by the knowledge that funds are proceeds of a criminal offense, and the transfer/transport of those funds is done to avoid detection, Chris Burke, a spokesman for La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, said.
“As an agency, we would advise our citizens not to travel with large amounts of cash for obvious reasons,” Burke said in a written statement. “The Sheriff’s Office would never seize any cash of any amount without probable cause.”
During the search, deputies identified “tooling” marks on the vehicle, which indicate it had been taken apart. The tooling marks were allegedly on panels with large voids where objects could be hidden.
The marks were suspicious because the vehicle is new and likely would not need to disassembled for repairs, according to the affidavit. Deputies have identified vehicles with large amounts of tooling marks can be connected to the transport of illegal substances and other illegal activity.
Interstate license plate readers indicated the suspects’ vehicle had allegedly traveled from Arizona, through Utah, into the Denver area, then toward Durango with minimal extended stops.
The U.S Highway 550 and Highway 160 corridor are used quite often for criminal traffic from the Phoenix and Albuquerque areas to avoid detection on the interstate, Burke said.
A deputy later learned through law enforcement databases that Sinsu is a suspect in a $100,000 cargo theft case in California, according to the affidavit.
Both suspects were released on a personal recognizance bond, Burke said.
The formal hearing for charges for both men will be held at 10 a.m. on Aug. 31 at the La Plata County Courthouse.
jrooney@durangoherald.com
