State police with dogs patrolling returning Thanksgiving traffic over the weekend discovered stuffing of a different sort after they stopped a sport utility vehicle on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The troopers and their canine partners sniffed out a suspicious bounty in the rear cargo area of a 2005 Honda Pilot with Louisiana plates - $410,900 in a hidden compartment under the vehicle's third row of seats, according to state police.

Police are investigating the driver, a 31-year-old Manchester, New Hampshire, man, and the source of the money.

Trooper Christopher Coscia, on patrol with his dog, Dante, stopped the Pilot for a marked lanes violation at 9:40 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 90 westbound. The driver, who was not listed as the owner of the vehicle, said he had limited information about the owner and other details related to the SUV. Trooper Coscia and Sgt. Charles Kane, who arrived to help, asked for and received consent to search the vehicle, according to a state police press release.

Sgt. Kane's German shepherd, Axel, who is trained to detect the odor of narcotics, then alerted police to the alleged presence of an odor on the Pilot's exterior. Sgt. Kane placed Axel inside the SUV and the dog again hit on a suspected narcotic odor, this time under the third row of seats.

The troopers had the Pilot towed to the state police barracks in Millbury. At the barracks, Sgt. Kane and Trooper Coscia and their dogs continued to search the vehicle and located the hidden compartment. Troopers accessed the "hide" by activating two pistons that controlled a secret door. Inside the concealed space, which measured about 3 feet by 5 feet and was about 5 inches deep, the troopers found U.S. currency packaged in compressed stacks and wrapped in cellophane.

The money was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration and was counted late this afternoon at the Federal Reserve Building in Boston.

The driver was not identified because he has not been charged with a crime. No narcotics were recovered from the vehicle and the investigation is continuing.