2ND AIRPORT CASH SEIZURE RAISES MORE RACIAL-PROFILING QUESTIONS

Jacob A. King Jr. considers himself a law-abiding citizen. He follows the
rules. He respects authority.

So when drug agents seized $7,221 in cash from the Omaha businessman at
Eppley Airfield last year, alleging that the money was connected to drug
activity, King was confident that his cash would be returned immediately.

"I had done nothing wrong," said the 26-year-old King, who owns a mobile
carwash business with his future father-in-law.

It would take 10 months and the help of the American Civil Liberties Union
before federal officials would return his cash.

King and his attorney, Amy Miller, ACLU Nebraska legal director, say that
King, who is black, was the victim of racial profiling.

"He was polite and answered their questions," Miller said. "He was a good
citizen, and it blew up in his face."

Authorities deny the allegation of racial profiling.

King's money was taken under federal forfeiture law, which allows the
government to take a person's property when authorities believe it to be
connected to illegal drugs. No illegal drugs were found on King, and he was
never arrested.

King was the second person of color known to the ACLU to have had cash
seized at Eppley. The other was Hector Herrera, a 30-year-old Mexican
immigrant whose $4,000 was taken on June 16, 2000, 11 days after King's
money was seized. A laborer and a restaurant worker, Herrera was never
charged with a crime.

Whether other minority people have had their money taken at Eppley, or
whether whites have been stopped and had cash taken, is not known because
the law enforcement agencies involved say they do not keep those sorts of
statistics.

The cases of King and Herrera illustrate the latest example of what some
are saying is racial profiling.

"Members of the drug task force seem to think that when a person of color
has cash, they must be a drug dealer," said Tim Butz, executive director of
ACLU Nebraska. "We have never heard of this type of action against white
travelers at Eppley Airfield."

A multiagency drug team consisting of the Nebraska State Patrol, the
Douglas County Sheriff's Office and the Omaha Police Department monitors
activity at the airport.

Representatives of those agencies would not talk about the King case or
provide details about surveillance at the airport.

In general, said Terri Teuber, spokeswoman for the State Patrol, many
indicators are considered before stopping a person.

"I assure you that race is not considered when we look for suspicious
behavior or an indication of drug activity," Teuber said.

Spokesmen for the Sheriff's Office and the Police Department agreed.

Many criteria are used, said Douglas County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Greg
Clemens, but being specific about them would be "like giving up our game plan."

The King and Herrera cases shared these traits:

Both men are members of minority groups.

Both paid cash for their tickets.

Both bought one-way tickets.

Both were traveling to the southwestern United States.

King has no criminal history involving drugs. His only brush with the law
came at the age of 16 when he was caught selling a stolen car in a police
sting. He served probation and did community service.

King's current problems began June 5, 2000, when he prepared to fly to
Phoenix to purchase a custom 1964 Chevrolet to drive back to Omaha to sell.

The plan was for King and his future father-in-law, Robert Faulkner, to
clean up the vehicle and sell it for a profit so that they could purchase
additional equipment for their carwash.

King said he took cash with him to Arizona so that he could complete the
sale without having to wait for his check from an Omaha bank to clear.

King, who has credit cards and a checkbook, said his preference to use cash
does not mean he is involved in drug activity.

As he waited with his fiancee and their 1-year-old daughter to board the
plane at Eppley, King was approached by a sheriff's deputy. The deputy
asked to see King's identification and his airline ticket.

The deputy, King said, asked about his travel plans and whether he was
carrying a large amount of cash. King answered yes.

"I didn't think $7,200 would cause a red flag," he said.

The deputy then took the cash to a room for a drug dog to sniff. When the
deputy returned, he told King that the government would keep the money. It
was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

That a dog would detect drugs on currency would not be unusual. Various law
enforcement and legal studies indicate that anywhere from one-third to 99
percent of currency in circulation is tainted with drug residue.

"I felt disturbed," King said. "It was a racial thing."

King said the deputy did not question or stop a white woman who was in
front of him in line. That woman also paid cash for her ticket, he said.

With the ACLU's help, King filed a claim with the U.S. Attorney's Office
seeking the return of his money.

Miller, the ACLU attorney, gave copies of King's income-tax receipts, pay
stubs and other business documents to the DEA and the U.S. attorney,
showing that he had earned the money legally. Neither office, Miller said,
was swayed by that information.

Ultimately, King got his money back after a federal judge ordered it
returned when the U.S. Attorney's Office missed a deadline in the seizure
process.

Interim U.S. Attorney Michael Heavican said that had his office gone to
court, it would have opposed King's claim that race was the reason he was
stopped.

The U.S. Attorney's Office mailed a $7,221 check to King in care of Miller.
No cover letter, apology or interest accompanied the check, Miller said.

"They knew they were wrong," King said. "That's why they gave my money back."

Cash seizures from April 2000 through March 2001:

NEBRASKA 128 seizures totaling $1.6 million. Of that, five were returned at
a value of $23,397

NATIONALLY 8,136 seizures totaling $259.6 million. Of that, 250 were
returned at a value of $4.2 million. Source: U.S. Marshal's Service.