To Protect and Collect

Taking Cash Into Custody

A Special Report On Police And Drug Money Seizures

HAND-OFF HALTS COUPLE'S CLAIM TO CASH

On Dec. 4, 1999, a Texas couple found $300,000 in a bag along the road.

They gave it to Dallas police and were told it would belong to them if no
one claimed the money within 60 days. The couple, a maintenance worker and
a kidney transplant patient, even received a claim number.

Then law enforcement decided not to give the money back -- a story that got
nationwide play this year. But here's the story behind the story.

Law enforcement might not have been able to keep the cash if police had not
circumvented Texas law by handing it off to the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Police said they found traces of cocaine on the bag, and a dog also
signaled the presence of drugs on the money. That raised the possibility
that it was proceeds of an illegal enterprise and not just unclaimed money
that should be returned to the couple.

But under Texas law, police said, they still didn't have enough evidence
that the money was clearly connected to drugs.

So police gave the money to the DEA, which does not have that requirement.

Under federal law, police get a portion of the money back.

Dallas Deputy Chief John Ferguson said it is common practice for the Police
Department to hand off drug money.

However, it appears that Texas law requires police to get a court order
before turning over the money to a federal agency. That was not done in
this case.

Because no one has ever challenged that section of the law in Texas, the
couple's attorney said his firm is researching it to figure out how to use
the law in court.

The attorney, Robert N. Udashen, also has filed a claim with the city of
Dallas and the DEA to get the money back.

"This is just an effort to get around the promise that they made to my
clients," Udashen said.

Part 1f, http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n680/a02.html