Buried treasure

Miami

Detectives dug up more than 2 million nickels—worth $135,200—on a farm near Miami last week. Narcotics agents, acting on a tip, were searching for marijuana plants, but stumbled across a cooler filled with the nickels. A Federal Reserve truck carrying 3.8 million nickels had disappeared in December, so detectives asked the farmer, Jose Alberto Portales, if he knew anything about it. He reportedly admitted that more coins were buried behind a stable. Police accused Portales and three others of plotting to cash in the nickels and wire the money to the truck’s driver, Angel Ricardo Mendoza, whom police say was in on the theft. Nearly 900,000 nickels, about $45,000 worth, remained missing. Mendoza has allegedly fled to Mexico or Cuba.

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