‘Spare’ cash: nearly 140,000 euros is found in the tyre of a stolen car

The Guardia Civil have reported that they have recovered nearly 140,000 euros in cash, much of which was hidden in the spare tyre, after searching a car because the driver acted strangely and tried to avoid them when they flagged him down.

This incident occurred around 4pm last Saturday (19th November) as officers were carrying out a routine patrol of the Calipso residential development area in Mijas when they saw the driver of a white BMW X6 take evasive action when he noticed them.

They flagged him down but he drove off so they followed the vehicle and intercepted it at a nearby petrol station, and identified the driver, who was a 23-year-old man of Moroccan origin but with French nationality.

Due to his actions, the Guardia Civil officers decided to search the vehicle and when they opened the boot they found a small jewellery box, a cash box, and a bag containing items of jewellery. When they asked the driver about them, he said he didn’t know where they had come from as nothing in the car was his.

Taking a closer look, officers searched all the compartments in the car and the area below the floor of the boot and found bundles of money, more than 2,300 banknotes totalling 140,000 euros, many of which were hidden in the tyre spare of the spare wheel.

They proceeded to ask the driver for proof of where the money had come from, but he said that the money wasn’t his either. At this point, they discovered that even the car wasn’t his as it had been stolen in France in March 2021.

The driver was subsequently detained on suspicion of the robbery, use of a stolen vehicle, and money laundering, but the investigation is continuing.

Money laundering and terrorism law in Spain:
The amount of money that anyone is allowed to carry in Spain is regulated by law to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. The limit is 100,000 euros. When leaving or entering the country, no more than 10,000 euros in cash is permitted.

If someone is found to be carrying more than that sum, they must provide evidence of where it came from and if it is incomplete or false, the person can be fined anything from 600 euros to 50% of the value of the means of payment (cash, cheques made out to the bearer or cash cards).

They can also be detained and the money will be confiscated until they can provide proof of its origin.