A B.C. man found with $29,000 stuffed in plastic Baggies in his car says he had the cash because he had been collecting soda cans.

With a five-cent deposit on pop cans in the province, that works out to almost 600,000 aluminum cans.

New Westminster police were running a drunk-driving checkpoint last Friday night when they pulled a car over after it made a U-turn while approaching officers, according to a news release.

The car smelled of marijuana, according to the release, so the officers searched the vehicle looking for drugs. Instead, they found $29,000 in two plastic Baggies, which they seized as they investigate where the money came from.

Police said the man, who was released, told officers he was unemployed, but had managed to accumulate so much cash because he had been collecting soda pop cans.