TEXAS: TRAFFIC STOP FOR SPEEDING OF BLACK MERCEDES BENZ WITH TENNESSEE LICENSE PLATES, UNCOVERS UNEXPLAINED $215,000 CASH, driver (Eric Adrian Antons) arrested for money laundering….

The Mission Police Department charged a man with money laundering last week after officers caught him with nearly $215,000 in cash.

On June 11, a traffic investigator stopped a black Mercedes Benz with Tennessee license plates for speeding.

The traffic investigator arrested the driver, 29-year-old Eric Adrian Antons of Pharr, for driving with a suspended license.

When the traffic investigator searched the car, he “could smell an odor of Marihuana emitting from the vehicle,” according to the criminal complaint. The traffic investigator attempted to open the car trunk, but couldn’t.

Antons said “the Cartel in Mexico has made threats against him and that he was sending them money,” according to the criminal complaint.

Officers had the Mercedes Benz towed to the Mission Police Department.

On June 16 — five days after the traffic stop — officers had a K-9 walk around the Mercedes Benz. The K-9 alerted to the trunk.

Officers asked state District Judge Marla Cuellar to sign a search warrant for the Mercedes Benz. Armed with the search warrant, officers searched the car.

They found a duffel bag stuffed with cash and a black safe, according to the criminal complaint. The safe also contained cash.

Officers seized $214,917, according to the criminal complaint.

Antons is charged with money laundering, a second-degree felony.

Court records don’t list an attorney for Antons, who remained at the Hidalgo County jail on Wednesday and couldn’t be reached for comment.