MONEY SEIZED AT EPPLEY AIRFIELD WILL BE RETURNED TO IMMIGRANT

Five months after law enforcement officials took Hector Herrera's $4,000 at
Eppley Airfield - saying it smelled of illegal drugs - federal officials
have decided to give it back.

U.S. Attorney Tom Monaghan said Wednesday that his office reviewed the case
of the 30-year-old Mexican immigrant and has declined to pursue the
forfeiture in court.

"We looked at the law, the facts and decided not to proceed," he said. He
would not elaborate.

Officials at the American Civil Liberties Union in Nebraska, which had
contended that Herrera was unfairly targeted because of the color of his
skin, said they were pleased with the decision yet upset that Herrera's
money had been held up for so long.

"Clearly we're glad the right thing is being done," said Tim Butz,
executive director of the ACLU in Nebraska. "But it goes to show that
unless the government's power is held in check by aggressive vigilance on
the part of its citizens, we're going to keep losing these battles for
civil liberty."

Lawyers in Monaghan's office would have had to defend the forfeiture in
court if the government were to keep the cash. Monaghan's decision not to
proceed means that the money must be returned.

The return of Herrera's money, however, does not necessarily end the ACLU's
challenge to searches and seizures at Eppley. The airport surveillance is
coordinated by the Nebraska State Patrol.

Butz said he believes that Herrera, a laborer and restaurant worker, was
stopped because of his ethnic background and the "perception that he was a
vulnerable target" who would not fight to regain his money.

Herrera was never charged with a crime nor did he have illegal drugs on him
when law officers took his money June 16 at Eppley.

Afterward, State Patrol officials who oversee the drug team defended the
action.

Herrera was stopped by drug agents after paying cash for a flight to Arizona.

When an officer in plain clothes approached him and asked him to be
searched, Herrera agreed. A drug-sniffing dog indicated that Herrera's
money was tainted with drug residue. The money was confiscated; Herrera was
let go.

Studies have shown that most of the currency in circulation is tainted with
drug residue.