Story highlights Jean Yves Selius was arrested Saturday at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida

He tells investigators he was being paid up to $1,000 to deliver the backpack to an unknown person

(CNN) Authorities say he'd planned to pass off the secret cash to someone inside an airport bathroom, but they got to him first.

Jean Yves Selius, a Delta Air Lines ramp agent, was arrested Saturday at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Southern Florida. He was allegedly caught carrying $282,400 in a backpack.

Selius, 26, used his airport identification to bypass security checkpoints and enter a so-called sterile area from the outside tarmac ramps, according to an affidavit from Homeland Security Special Agent Jon A. Longo. Selius, who was wearing civilian clothes, was approached by an airport operation officer and asked to show the contents of his backpack.

Selius did so willingly, the complaint said, "revealing large packets of cash wrapped in clear, vacuum sealed bundles."

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