MIAMI -- A truck driver who disappeared while delivering $180,000 in nickels is still missing -- and though some of the nickels have been recovered, officials said Monday thousands of dollars worth are still missing.

In December, the coins were being moved from the Federal Reserve Bank in New Jersey to New Orleans, when they disappeared. The empty truck was found in Fort Pierce. The driver, Ricardo 'Angel' Mendoza, is still missing.

Police notified stores where coins can be turned in to be on the lookout for anyone exchanging large quantities of nickels.

Police said they questioned Juan Brito after he had reportedly cashed in thousands of dollars worth of nickels at a Miami Winn-Dixie store.

Police said a tip about marijuana plants growing at a house in the Redlands led them back to Brito.

After he was initially questioned about cashing in the nickels, police said Brito and three others involved in the cover-up decided to bury the coins in the back yard of the home.

Brito is one of four people arrested in the case. After the raid on the house Friday, police also arrested Brito's son, Yoan Brito Vargas; Javier Gonzalez, son of the home's owner; and a tenant, Jose Portales.

The owner of the house, Diosdado Cabrera, is missing,

After finding 88 marijuana plants in a small building on the property, agents went over the back yard with metal detectors, and found the more than 3 million nickels. Officials said the coins were buried in a wooden box, covered in a thick clear plastic tarp buried in a 4-foot deep hole. The coins were still inside Federal Reserve bags, according to police.

Police said more than $44,000 worth of nickels that should have been recovered were not there.

Investigators said Gonzalez has admitted to cashing in only $4,000 worth of nickels.

Brito and Portales are being held in Miami-Dade County. Gonzalez and Vargas were released on signature bonds.