- Trump's former $95 million mansion to be torn down
- Hundreds show up to eat a burger with 'Sad Grandpa'
- Woman drives up telephone pole, gets stuck in high-voltage wires, police say
- Mother shoots intruder after he ignores 'We don't dial 911' sign
- Tool shows how much you'll pay in taxes under each presidential candidate
A Delta Air Lines employee at Palm Beach International Airport was arrested Saturday after he was found with $282,400 in a backpack he was told to hand over to a passenger in an airport bathroom, according to federal court records.
Jean Yves Selius, of Boynton Beach, was stopped by an airport security agent after he used his employee badge to bypass security checkpoints to enter a secure area from the outside tarmac ramps.
Selius, a ramp agent for Delta, opened the bag “revealing large packets of cash wrapped in clear, vacuum-sealed bundles,” according to an affidavit from a Homeland Security agent.
Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded with a drug-sniffing dog. The dog had a positive hit for drugs in the backpack indicating the money had made contact with illicit substances, the affidavit states.
Selius told authorities that he was being paid $900 to $1,000 to give the backpack in an airport bathroom to an unidentified traveler heading to LaGuardia Airport. Selius also said that men he knew only as “Ricky” and “John” had been paying him for around one year to make the drop-offs. The two men paid Selius $3,900 for four deliveries prior to his arrest on Saturday, he said.
Selius said the men approached him after learning he worked at the airport and admitted he knew the money did not “come from a good cause,” the affidavit said.
Court records show that Selius made an appearance in federal court Monday and will remain locked up at least until a hearing later this week.
Selius faces a charge of illegal money transmitting, which could result in five years in prison and possible deportation.
