I don’t agree that 1.5 to 2 hours is a reasonable time to sort through 19 cars.
Also the use of cuffs persons w/o probable cause makes this an inappropriate and abusive use of power. Those citizens were deprived of their basic rights, most especially self-defense.
Just because the situation didn’t go sideways this time, doesn’t mean it won’t the next time.
Oates (the police chief) is quoted in the local paper as that only the suspects car was searched, which means they had some means of actually identifying the car (probably a signal emitter in with the money). If the quote is accurate, then the cuffing and detention of the persons in other vehicles is beyond the pale because not only was there no probable cause, the officers had definite knowledge they were detaining innocent persons.
The problem is cops who think they can do anything in the name of their own safety, including endangering citizens in the vicinity.
The whole point of our constitution is that we Americans prefer preserving our freedoms over netting one more bad guy.