Deputies Dustin McQuillan and Kenny Fahndrich and K9 Zuko pose with the $375,000 they seized during a traffic stop in February | Photo courtesy of Garrett Scott

Previously:

• DNSO Seized $375,000 in a Single Stop Last Month; Sheriff Says Cash Was Used Allegedly For Drug Smuggling

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The Del Norte County District Attorney still hasn’t decided whether to file charges against Quiraiat Jimenez, the now 36-year-old driver deputies pulled over near Crescent City in February with $375,000 in cash in the trunk of his car.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office suspects the cash could be connected to drug smuggling.

District Attorney Katherine Micks said Monday she needs to review video of an interview with the subject, who was driving a Nissan Rogue with Arizona plates when Deputy Dustin McQuillen stopped him south of the Washington Boulevard overpass on Feb. 18.

Meanwhile, Del Norte County posted its final notice in the Del Norte Triplicate on Friday, providing information about how to claim the $375,000. So far there’s been no response, County Counsel Joel Campbell-Blair told the Wild Rivers Outpost.

“People have to file within 30 days of the last posting in the paper, which was 3/31,” he said via email Monday. “There’s a hearing on 5/5. If at that time no one has made a claim, we’ll ask the court to order forfeiture at that hearing. If someone has made a claim, the court will set it for trial.”

No underlying criminal charge or conviction is necessary for forfeiture of the $375,000 to Del Norte County, Campbell-Blair told the Outpost on Monday.

On March 20, Campbell-Blair told the Outpost that the county had sent a form to Jimenez for him to claim that money. Anyone coming forward will have to show proof that they own the money and it’ll then be the county’s burden to prove it was connected to drug sales.

If no one claims the money, it will be divided up. Twenty-five percent of that cash will go to the State of California, Campbell-Blair said, and the rest would go to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office.

McQuillan stopped Jimenez after he noticed the driver traveling well below the speed limit and acting suspiciously at about 11:53 a.m. Feb. 18, Sheriff Garrett Scott told the Outpost.

After McQuillan requested a K9 unit and officer backup, Jimenez allowed deputies to search his vehicle, Scott said. They found the bricks of cash in a bag stashed under some clothing, Scott told the Outpost.

Deputies also found a small “personal use” amount of cocaine in Jimenez’s vehicle, the sheriff said. They booked Jimenez into the Del Norte County Jail on Feb. 18 on suspicion of possessing money over $100,000 for unlawful narcotics sales. Jimenez made bail a few days later, Scott said.

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