Five nabbed in money laundering, drug crackdown in Fort Bend County

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Five people have been arrested during a drug trafficking and money laundering crackdown in Fort Bend County last week.

Local and federal officers were stationed along Highway 59, pulling over traffic violators in search for in drug traffickers and money launderers.

On May 5, they made their first arrest U.S. 59 at FM 2919 in Kendleton. Authorities searched a minivan and found $96,110 hidden in the rear body panels of the vehicle. They arrested 54-year-old Jose Alfonso Contreras-Salgado, of Reynosa, Mexico, and booked him into the Fort Bend County Jail on third degree felony charges of money laundering.

Two days later, the team stopped a passenger vehicle traveling south on U.S. 59 at Cottonwood in Rosenberg. In it, they found $125,610 stashed inside the two front seats of the vehicle. Ohio resident Edelmiro Perez Jr., 48, was arrested and booked into the Fort Bend County Jail on charges of money laundering and unlawful use of a criminal instrument.

Also on Wednesday, team members made two other arrests during a traffic stop on U.S. 59 at Isleib Road in Beasley. Authorities found 24.56 pounds of cocaine -- worth about $334,800 -- hidden inside the frame of the vehicle.

Jeanie Burciaga, 38, and Adrian Martinez, 38, of Brownsville, Texas, were arrested and booked into the Fort Bend County Jail on first degree felony charges of Manufacturing/Delivery of a Controlled Substance and second degree charges of Unlawful Use of a Criminal Instrument.

Their last arrest came on Sunday after they stopped a vehicle on U.S. 59 at Kirkwood. During the roadside investigation, officers found 12.2 pounds of heroin, worth about approximately $280,000, inside the transfer case of the vehicle.

Miguel Antonio Carranza, 34, of Webster, Texas, was arrested and booked into the Fort Bend County Jail on first degree charges of Manufacturing/Delivery of a Controlled Substance.

"This past week's results are a testament of what a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional cooperative approach of enhanced drug enforcement does for the citizens of Fort Bend County," Lt. Josh Dale, who directs the team in Fort Bend, said in a prepared statement. "The credit goes to all the participating agencies in the task force."