Posted on 05/06/2015 4:29:37 PM PDT by CedarDave
Maybe he should have taken traveler’s checks.
But it’s too late for that now. All the money – $16,000 in cash – that Joseph Rivers said he had saved and relatives had given him to launch his dream in Hollywood is gone, seized during his trip out West not by thieves but by Drug Enforcement Administration agents during a stop at the Amtrak train station in Albuquerque.
An incident some might argue is still theft, just with the government’s blessing.
Rivers, 22, wasn’t detained and has not been charged with any crime since his money was taken last month.
That doesn’t matter. Under a federal law enforcement tool called civil asset forfeiture, he need never be arrested or convicted of a crime for the government to take away his cash, cars or property – and keep it.
Agencies like the DEA can confiscate money or property if they have a hunch, a suspicion, a notion that maybe, possibly, perhaps the items are connected with narcotics. Or something else illegal.
Or maybe the fact that the person holding a bunch of cash is a young black man is good enough.
Rivers said he carried his savings in cash because he has had problems in the past with taking out large sums of money from out-of-state banks.
A DEA agent boarded the train at the Albuquerque Amtrak station and began asking various passengers ... where they were going and why. When Rivers replied that he was headed to LA to make a music video, the agent asked to search his bags. Rivers complied.
Rivers was the only passenger singled out for a search by DEA agents – and the only black person on his portion of the train, Pancer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
” This really doesn’t pass the smell test”
Hard to believe anyone would carry this amount of cash, or be this dumb.
When I moved to Alaska, I had $12,000 cash with me. Cash is not criminal.
Another example of “If you’re not doing anything wrong don’t worry about it.”
The feds have been doing this for decades. Never travel with more than a few hundred in cash. Especially now since debit cards can be used everywhere.
No it isn’t, but these days it isn’t a good idea, unless you are buying something where the seller demands cash. A used car or truck, for example.
Another reason is local & fed authorities have become thieves : )
Why? Is it illegal to carry cash?
See post 24
That would be only if he were charged with anything. That requires a lot more work than simply stealing his money.
Point taken. Although generally, the less you agree with anything while still complying with commands, the better - once you get to argue something before a judge or jury.
I am sick of the WOD. Abolish the DEA. Legalize drugs. Let the druggies have thier fun. I do not care if they kill themselves. Just leave law abiding people alone.
This is stone cold government theft. The person who did this should be arrested and his supervisors and enabling politicians should be prosecuted under RICO. I dispise thieves.
Yeah, that's the ticket. Keep it in a nice safe bank account so all they hafta do is a few key strokes to take it. Sav'em the trouble of trackin ya down. And while they're pokin around in there they can see everything you've purchased if they're interested. /sarc
More than that:
Wasn’t this an armed man taking something of value? — That’s right, this was armed robbery, not a mere theft.
.... the agent asked to search his bags. Rivers complied.
Well, there is your problem. Learn the following phrases:
1) I do not wish to be encountered
2) I do not answer questions from law enforcement or agents of the state without the presence of my attorney
3) I do not consent to any searches of my person or my property
4) Am I being detained or am I free to go
5) Since you have not clearly answered that I am detained, I am going to assume that I am NOT detained and will now be on my way.
6) Depriving me of my rights is a violation of title 42 section 1983 of the US code
7) I wish to assert my right to not speak to you or answer any of your questions.
And say nothing else.
By gadffery you have the right of it OWS. And does that not make his supervisors and enablers accomplices? Send them all to jail for armed robbery. BTW how would one accept robbery from a person identifying themselves as an LEO? Seems to defending oneself against robbery is a constitutional right.
I was on a Greyhound bus in 2002 when this happened to someone in Tallahassee.
It was a white guy and fairly sure it was drug money in that case.
Got asked where I was from, where I was going and why.
Art 2
Sec. 4. [Inherent rights.]
All persons are born equally free, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and obtaining safety and happiness.
Sec. 10. [Searches and seizures.]
The people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized, nor without a written showing of probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
Sec. 18. [Due process; equal protection; sex discrimination.]
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor shall any person be denied equal protection of the laws. Equality of rights under law shall not be denied on account of the sex of any person. The effective date of this amendment shall be July 1, 1973.
Hard to believe anyone would carry this amount of cash, or be this dumb.
This smells like ""parallel construction" to me. They had information about him from cell phone monitoring or something similar and asking the others was just a cover-up to hide the fact that he was the one targeted from the get-go.
Anybody that carries 16 grand in cash should be armed.
Not defending the action of the DEA but this guy is some kind of crook.
It is not illegal to carry large amounts of cash.
It is that the DEA can legally take it from you, upon which you are guilty until proven innocent. Even if they never charge you with a crime related to the cash, you have to prove you obtained it legally or they keep it, legally.
It is literally highway robbery by the DEA, but the law allows them to perform this highway robbery. The law needs to be changed, but it won’t be. The police state is too powerful to turn back.
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