Did law enforcement find "rolls of cash" and drugs on Kilmar Abrego-Garcia upon his arrest, as was asserted by a representative of the Department of Homeland Security? That's not found in a court document detailing a 2019 police stop involving the Salvadoran man and three others. Police records, newly released by the U.S. Department of Justice, among other files from Abrego Garcia's case, show that law enforcement used the expression "rolls of money" to refer to the images on Abrego-Garcia's hoodie, not actual currency. At the time of his arrest, he had more than a thousand dollars on him. Drugs were found on the scene, but the files did not say they belonged to Abrego-Garcia. Here is what we know so far:
The statement appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on April 16, 2025, by Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin (archived here). The entry opened:
When Garcia was arrested he was found with rolls of cash and drugs.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot by Lead Stories)
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia (archived here) is a 29-year-old citizen of El Salvador who lived in Maryland until March 15, 2025 when he was deported (archived here). The U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged that the removal was an error (archived here), and the case has been a high-profile legal battle between civil libertarian groups and the Trump Administration.
The post published by a DHS spokesperson in the midst of it did not say where the information about the drugs and cash said to have been found on Abrego-Garcia came from.
A court document addressing his 2019 arrest (archived here), however, does not match her narrative of Abrego-Garcia's case.:
In March 2019, officers from the Prince George's County Police Department arrested Abrego Garcia and three other men in Maryland. ...
The attorney for Plaintiff Abrego Garcia subsequently made multiple attempts to obtain additional information from law enforcement concerning these allegations. PGPD indicated that it did not have any incident report related to the Home Deport episode at all, nor did the Department have any incident reports containing his name. The Hyattsville City Police Department ("HCPD"), on the other hand, confirmed it had an incident report for the Home Depot incident, but that only 3 people were named and Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was not one of them, nor did it have any other incident reports with his name in its database. His attorney also contacted the PGPD Inspector General requesting to speak to the detective who authored the GFIS sheet, but was informed that the detective had been suspended. A request to speak to other officers in the Gang Unit was declined.
During a briefing on April 16, 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's recitation of the case did not match the narrative put forth by the DHS spokesperson. Leavitt said that "when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was originally arrested, he was wearing a sweatshirt with rolls of money covering the ears, mouth and eyes of presidents on various currency denominations".
Later on April 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice released police documents (archived here) describing that event. It specified that the arrest of Abrego-Garcia and several other people was triggered by "loitering in the parking lot of the Home Depot". According to the files, he had $1,178.00 in possession, but the police used the word "rolls" to refer to a clothing item, not to actual notes:
Officers then interviewed Kilmar Armando ABREGO-GARCIA. During the interview officers observed he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie with rolls of money covering the eyes, ears and mouth of the presidents on the separate denominations
The document said that "two small plastic bottles containing marijuana was [sic] located on scene" but did not mention that anything other than the cash was found on Abrego-Garcia at the time of his arrest.
While the documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice did describe Abrego-Garcia as an identified gang member, they also showed that he had no previous criminal history:
(Source: DoJ screenshot by Lead Stories)
Lead Stories contacted Abrego-Garcia's attorney as well as the ICE and the DHS. If we receive a response, this story will be updated as appropriate.
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