FORFEITING SENSE

In 1996, some Missouri highway troopers stopped a speeding Volkswagen
Golf. One thing led to another, and before long they were searching
the car. When they found $24,000 in cash stored by the battery, they
decided they were dealing with drug dealers and seized both the money
and the vehicle. In early 1999, the latter was auctioned for $5,400 to
Jeffrey Chappell and his mother Helen.

Two months later, a mechanic found another $82,000 hidden in the gas
tank. He called the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the
government took the money. The Chappells are taking the matter to court.

"I bought the car 'as is,'" Jeffrey explains, "and the law is very
clear. If I had bought the car from a used car dealer, the money would
be mine. It seems that the law applies to everyone except the
government.' What's more, if the authorities decide that the cash is
drug money, the cops could seize the car, without compensation, yet
again--even though no one suspects the Chappells of being involved in
the drug trade.

Meanwhile, the original $24,000 seems to be lost in the bowels of the
federal beast: No one's sure who has it. And the car's original
owners? They were never charged with any crime and are free to this
day.