CLAYTON POLICE SEIZE $217,780 IN CASH

CLAYTON, N.M. - The Clayton Police Department soon might have a much
bigger budget with which to enforce the law in northeastern New Mexico.

During a traffic stop Saturday morning, Clayton Police Officer Johnny
Rivera said he seized $217,780 that was stacked in bundles covered
with plastic wrap and hidden under the dash of the vehicle.

The weekend cash seizure is the largest anyone can recall in the
Clayton area, Rivera said.

Rivera said he discovered the money at about 11:10 a.m. MDT Saturday
after he stopped an Amarillo couple in a 1993 Mercury Villager van
that appeared to be speeding on U.S. Highway 87 south of Clayton
toward Dalhart.

"During my conversation with the driver and his passenger, they kept
giving me conflicting stories," Rivera said. "The driver gave me oral
and written consent to search the vehicle. I was looking near the
driver's side door when I saw a package of U.S. currency under the
dash wrapped in plastic. Then I saw several other bundles of cash
stashed under the dash."

Rivera said the driver and the lone passenger in the van denied any
knowledge of the money and signed a disclaimer saying they did not
know the money was there and it did not belong to them.

At that point, Rivera said he was able to seize the cash as abandoned
property.

While there is no state law against carrying large amounts of cash,
police are able to seize money in a case like this when the people in
the vehicle deny knowledge of the money and do not claim it, Rivera
said.

Rivera also seized the van because he said the driver could not show
proof of ownership for the vehicle. The driver showed the officer a
title to the van, but the title only had the name of a previous owner,
Rivera said.

Although large cash seizures sometimes are associated with narcotics,
Rivera said no drugs were found in the van where the money bundles
were found in this case.

The van's male driver and his girlfriend, the female passenger, live
in Amarillo, where the man recently moved to from Dodge City, Kan.,
Rivera said.

Police did not release the names of the driver and passenger because
they were not charged with any crimes, Rivera said.

The couple was detained, released and allowed to return to Amarillo
with the woman's father, who had traveled to Clayton to pick them up,
Rivera said.

Rivera said law-enforcement officials are working on filing forfeiture
papers in court as the first step toward keeping the cash for the
Clayton Police Department.

But before the police department can retain the cash, forfeiture
proceedings must be held, and a judge must review the case and issue a
forfeiture authorization, Rivera said.

If the forfeiture is approved, the van either could be kept by the
Clayton Police Department or auctioned.