A Miami man with a rap sheet including cocaine trafficking, was arrested again last week on money laundering charges after police find more than $530,000 in his car.
Mauricio Vargas, 44, was pulled over last Thursday by Miami-Dade police after they say he ran a red light.
Officers say they asked to search Vargas' car because it smelled like marijuana.
After searching the car, officers allegedly found the money in a box and backpack.
According to police, Vargas confessed to receiving the money from a man known to him as Gustavo De Los Rios. He allegedly told detectives that he was a middle man for the Gulf Cartel.
Detectives said Vargas told them that De Los Rios had previously given him cocaine to ship from the southwest border to Miami, which resulted in a previous arrest by the DEA.
Vargas said the money seized from his vehicle was payment for a cocaine shipment from the southwest border originating from the Gulf Cartel, the arrest report said.
Vargas was arrested on charges of money laundering and being an unauthorized money transmitter.
He is being held on a $1 million bond.