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Posted on 08/25/2007 12:32:37 PM PDT by microgood
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A trucker has sued the Drug Enforcement Administration, seeking to get back nearly $24,000 seized by DEA agents earlier this month at a weigh station on U.S. 54 in New Mexico north of El Paso, Texas.
Anastasio Prieto of El Paso gave a state police officer at the weigh station permission to search the truck to see if it contained "needles or cash in excess of $10,000," according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the federal lawsuit Thursday.
Prieto told the officer he didn't have any needles but did have $23,700.
Officers took the money and turned it over to the DEA. DEA agents photographed and fingerprinted Prieto over his objections, then released him without charging him with anything.
Border Patrol agents searched his truck with drug-sniffing dogs, but found no evidence of illegal substances, the ACLU said.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants violated Prieto's right to be free of unlawful search and seizure by taking his money without probable cause and by fingerprinting and photographing him.
"Mere possession of approximately $23,700 does not establish probable cause for a search or seizure," the lawsuit said.
It said Prieto pulled into the weigh station about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 8 and was let go about 4 p.m.
DEA agents told Prieto he would receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days and that to get it back, he'd have to prove it was his and did not come from illegal drug sales.
They told him the process probably would take a year, the ACLU said.
The ACLU's New Mexico executive director, Peter Simonson, said Prieto needs his money now to pay bills and maintain his truck. The lawsuit said Prieto does not like banks and customarily carries his savings as cash.
"The government took Mr. Prieto's money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night," Simonson said. "In fact, being robbed might have been better. At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator."
The DEA did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Peter Olson, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, which oversees state police, said he could not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit names DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy, DEA task force officer Gary T. Apodaca, DEA agent Joseph Montoya and three state police officers identified only as John or Jane Doe.
Hmmmm... “Anastasio Prieto”
Something tells me the ACLU wouldn’t be taking this case if it was a white guy. In general, they are much more interested in establishing precedents that shield minorities from the rule of law, than safeguarding Constitutional rights for all Americans to enjoy.
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Typical idealistic letter-of-the-law reading by a liberal. Technically, it's legal to possess over $10,000 in cash if you don;t take it across the border, but courts have ruled that large amounts of cash, even if less than $10K, can be seized if the officer 'suspects' that it derives from criminal activity. No trial is needed to back up such 'suspicion'.
Drug warriors get orgasmic over police state tactics like this one.
Where does it say he took it over the border, maybe I missed that somewhere.
This actually may not be a bad idea. If you just lie, or deny consent to the search, then they can charge you with a felony. At that point due process kicks in: you get a trial, perhaps with a jury, and the government must prove its case in court.
This man DIDN'T CROSS a border.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ha! If you're not a citizen, they use the DEA. If you are a citizen, they use the IRS. Welcome to America, pal.
Cases like this are pretty common. I don’t see how the laws that permit them are Constitutional, but it’s been going on for a long time, so I guess (once again) the Supreme Court does not see the Constitution the same way I do.
I imagine MOST of the time the person with the wad of cash is guilty of something, but then, aren’t we all?
There are so many laws on the books that a competent cop can find you in violation of a bunch of laws at any given time. The local cops make use of broken tail lights, improperly affixed registration tags and cracked windshields as probable cause for a stop if they are inclined to perform a stop. They know the names and faces of the habitual offenders in the area. It's common for a broken tail light to progress to a traffic stop where a "wants and warrants" check turns up an active warrant for a vehicle occupant.
If the truck driver carried over $10,000 across the border without a proper declaration, that will result in legal action. Any time you perform a transaction or series of transactions that exceed $10,000 in a fixed time frame, the bank networks flag the activity and notify the appropriate government agency.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“What happens if you deny them permission to search?”
They’ll arrest you for “suspicion” and hold you while they get a warrant, after which they’ll steal your money just as they planned to begin with. Except, of course, that you will have spent a few days in jail and will have incurred the cost of a lawyer and perhaps bail. Oh, and now they just might take your car as well because you pissed them off.
Some “free society, huh??
“Why should a free man have to justify to the government why he is carrying cash?”
It is in the best interest of the Government that people not use cash.
Cash = freedom. And we all know how much trouble that can cause.
Of course the best interest of the Government and the best interest of a free man are not always the same.
If you ever pull your head out, take the time to wipe it off, too.
This trucker was busted in New Mexico, not at an international border crossing. The article doesn’t even imply international border crossings.
So you’re still condoning government agents stealing money from a resident without any evidence of a crime, aren’t you?
There is no indication he crossed any border except for a state line.Now the fact that he has a spanish name, so what. Many Americans have spanish names. There are many ignorant people on this thread when it comes to the trucking industry.
My bad. Thatt is a pretty absurd law. Driving around domesticly with over $10,000 seems to be reasonable cause for search, but having a legal reason is not improbable enough for forfiture.
And some people think the government is too intrusive. They are really just protecting us.
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