If the quality of the evidence was questionable even after the money was observed, one must assume that there was even less evidence at the time the suspect was seen carrying a garbage bag to justify arresting him.
"Castellanos had been the focus of a lengthy DEA investigation first begun after anonymous letters arrived at the local police precinct alerting the police to Castellanos's drug-dealing. One of Castellanos's customers became a police informant and continued to buy drugs from Castellanos for more than six months. Some of these negotiations had been caught on audio and video tape by the DEA. "
Can you say "caught red-handed"?