When Safford Police officer Brian Avila pulled over a 2007 BMW G-6 sportscar for reckless driving last week he had no idea what he would find inside – over $51,500 in cold hard cash.
Aurangzeb M. Sheikh, an online poker player from Texas was pulled over after an officer spotted him driving erratically and at high speeds. He was given a citation for speeding and performing an unsafe lane change. When Avila was given permission to do a car search he found inside a marijuana joint, a marijuana grinder, a driving permit from the Republic of Pakistan – and the bag of cash.
Sheikh told Avila that he had won the money playing poker in Las Vegas casinos and was simply returning home to Houston after a successful week of poker.
After his car was towed to the police station, Sheikh consented to a urine sample, which tested positive for THC – the active ingredient in marijuana. While Sheikh denied the drugs were his, he did confess to having a fraudulent document, stating that the Pakistani driver’s permit was given to him by his brother who lives there. He said he only used the document to get into casinos to play poker.
The FBI confirmed that Sheikh was indeed a well-known on-line poker player and also confirmed that he had recently won $200,000 in the Bahamas.
Sheikh was cited for Driving Under the Influence of drugs, possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and forgery. With no prior criminal history, he spent the night in the Graham County Jail and was released the following day.
