GRPD: $1.2 million in cash found during drug bust

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids police say they found about $1.2 million in cash and more than a kilo of drugs when they raided a Wyoming home last week.

The Sept. 3 bust yielded $1,173,200 in cash, about 2.5 pounds of cocaine and an illegally-possessed handgun, court records show.

A photo released by the Grand Rapids Police Department shows stacks of money in denominations of $5, $50 and $100 bound with rubber bands.

“The handgun was located in a duffle bag with a kilo of cocaine and a large sum of cash,” an officer wrote in a probable cause document filed with the court.

GRPD said officers arrested a suspect the day of the search. Court records show Antonio Cruz, 41, of Wyoming, was arraigned Sept. 6 on five criminal counts: delivery or manufacturing of cocaine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, felony firearms and maintaining a drug house.

The court document says that between April and Sept. 2, the GRPD Vice Unit organized two undercover buys of cocaine from Cruz. That led to a raid at his home on Berwyn Avenue SW near Porter Street.

GRPD said there was an “ongoing investigation that may result in future arrests.”

“The GRPD Vice Unit has been working diligently on this investigation for several months,” GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom said in a statement. “This seizure represents a significant disruption to the drug trade in the Grand Rapids metro area, to the benefit and safety of everyone in our community. It is the largest amount of cash recovered in recent memory—and perhaps in history—by GRPD. This is the direct result of the excellent work of our Vice Unit detectives and our law enforcement partners.”

Cruz’s bond was set at $1 million.

“(Defendant) (i)ndicated to officers that if he gets out he (w)ill disappear both because of charges and retribution,” a court record notes.

The delivery or manufacturing charge is punishable by up to life in prison, the felon in possession counts by five years, the felony firearms by two years and the drug house charge is a high-court misdemeanor punishable by up to two years. Court records showed Cruz was previously convicted of delivery or manufacturing drugs in 2015.

Police said the money and vehicles located during the raid were expected to go through the civil asset forfeiture process.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.