PROSECUTORS SEEK FORFEITURE OF CASH FOUND IN ACCUSED DEALER'S CAR

A Collier County Man Not Only Faces A Slew Of Drug Charges In Lee
County, But Now The Federal Government Wants To Take Almost $38,000
Found In His Car After A Fender-Bender In A Bank Parking Lot

Javier Zavala, 35, of 2801 Holly Ave., Golden Gate, 34112, is jailed
on a variety of drug possession and trafficking charges after
investigators who had been tailing him arrested Zavala in a Bonita
Springs bank parking lot.

His March 2 arrest was followed up Wednesday when federal prosecutors
filed court documents asking that the $37,768 in cash found in
Zavala's car be forfeited to the federal government.

"There's a good possibility ... that a good portion of the money could
go back to FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) and the DEA task force,"
Assistant U.S.

Attorney Robert Barclift said Thursday. "Hopefully, it will act as a
deterrent to those who would commit crimes, and it puts money back
into law enforcement to fight those crimes."

According to forfeiture records, Drug Enforcement Administration
agents were watching a Bonita Springs home on March 2 when they saw
Zavala drive to a Walden Center Drive bank about a mile from the
house. DEA agents called in FHP troopers, who later investigated a
crash there when Zavala reportedly backed into another car while
trying to leave the lot.

Inside a black bag in Zavala's car, troopers found marijuana, cocaine
and prescription bottles containing oxycodone, Xanex, Propoxyphene
Napsylate, methadone, tizanidine and one amphetamine tablet. Also in
his car, troopers found a digital scale and $37,768, according to
court records.

A confidential informant told investigators that Zavala kept money and
drugs in this bag, and had said "It's what I do. I'm a traveling drug
dealer," court records said.

A message was left for Zavala's criminal defense attorney, Robert
Harris, but he could not be reached for comment.

Zavala's drug possession trial is scheduled for Sept. 11 in Lee County
Circuit Court. He is being held in the Lee County jail.

Even if defendants are acquitted in criminal cases, they still may
lose items in their civil forfeiture cases. Defendants in forfeiture
cases often lose money, cars, boats, homes and computers.

"We've taken airplanes, tractor trailer rigs, businesses," Barclift
explained. "There was a time when the Middle District of Florida was
able to get racehorses.

Musical equipment was seized in Jacksonville (in a
case)."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Cream, who heads up the forfeiture
division in Tampa, was unavailable for comment Thursday, and questions
were referred to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Steve Cole. Cole
could not be reached for comment.

"If folks are likely to lose the fruits of their crime, there may be
those who say, 'I'm not going to do it,' " Barclift said.