Two men are behind bars after a surveillance operation ended with Harlingen police seizing about $50,000 in laundered cash.

Harlingen police arrested 18-year-old Jesus Alexis Cardanoza-Garcia and 26-year-old Eddie Flores on Wednesday.

Investigators told Action 4 News that police had a house under surveillance when Cardanoza-Garcia drove up in an orange Dodge Nitro.

The plain clothes officers saw Flores give Cardanoza-Garcia a box.

A police officer in a marked patrol car pulled the 18-year-old Progreso man over for a traffic violation on Expressway 83 near Bass Boulevard.

Investigators reported that officers found $50,000 dollars in cash inside the box Flores had given to Cardanoza-Garcia.

Police charged both men with money laundering.

Both Flores and Cardanoza-Garcia appeared before a Harlingen municipal judge on Wednesday morning where they each issued $20,000 dollar bonds.