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Customs and Border Protection officers in El Paso seized... (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
 
 
Reporter
Adriana M. Chávez
Customs and Border Protection officers in El Paso seized more than $25,000 in cash from a woman trying to walk into Mexico. Customs officials said the cash was apparently hidden in a purse belonging to Irma Ariana Varela Antillon, 29, of Juárez. Officials said Varela was walking south on the Paso Del Norte bridge about 4 p.m. Wednesday when she was selected for inspection by customs personnel. An agent with the U.S. Border Patrol began talking to Varela, then searched her purse and found three bundles of unreported cash in the bag. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested Varela for federal prosecution. She is being held without bond at the El Paso County Jail. "The unreported cash that we seize has an impact on the criminal organizations by making it more difficult for them to further their illicit activities," said Hector Mancha, the port director for Customs and Border Protection in El Paso. "CBP officers and Border Patrol agents performing southbound inspections at all area crossings are generating important enforcement activity regularly."