Connecticut

Police Find $110K in Backpack After Seizing Ecstasy Pills During Drug Arrest

No one at the scene claimed the backpack, and they couldn’t say why there was so much cash in it, police said

What to Know

  • Officers arresting a woman for possessing ecstasy pills found around $110,000 in a backpack at the scene
  • A Westport police officer approached the car because it was parked at a hardware store around 1:30 a.m.
  • A woman in the car was in possession of marijuana, and a woman who walked up to the car was in possession of ecstasy pills, police said

Officers arresting a woman for being in possession of ecstasy pills found around $110,000 in a backpack at the scene, police said.

An officer spotted a suspicious car parked at Torno Hardware, on Post Road East in Westport, Connecticut, around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, Westport police said. 

A woman and two men were in the car, and another woman, Ninifa Ruiz, 30, of Massachusetts, came out from behind a building near the car, according to police.

When the officer approached the car and started talking to the people inside, he smelled marijuana, police said. He and backup officers who came to the scene discovered the woman in the car had a small amount of the drug on her.

Ruiz, meanwhile, was in possession of ecstasy pills, according to police.

When officers searched the car, they discovered around $110,000 in a backpack, police said. No one at the scene claimed the bag, and they couldn’t say why there was so much cash in it, according to police.

Ruiz was arrested and charged with sale of a hallucinogen and possession of a controlled substance/hallucinogen, police said.

She is expected to appear in court on Oct. 16. The woman who was in possession of marijuana was issued an infraction, according to police.

Contact Us