INTERSTATE STOP NETS $871,471

A traffic stop on Interstate 85 led to the seizure of nearly $900,000
in cash Tuesday by Davidson County sheriff's deputies.

Officers with the department's Interstate Criminal Enforcement team
found $871,471 in a late-model Chevrolet Impala, said Sheriff David
Grice. Other recent cash seizures pale in comparison.

"It's definitely the largest this year so far, and probably all year,
and probably the second-largest in the sheriff's department history,"
Grice said.

In February 2004, ICE officers found a record $1.2 million in a
Chevrolet minivan traveling on I-85, an increasingly popular route
for drug smuggling.

Deputies stopped the Impala shortly before 11:30 p.m. Tuesday on
northbound I-85 near the Old Highway 64 exit. Grice said the driver
was making unsafe lane changes and driving erratically.

Officers found $7,000 in cash on one of the two men in the car. The
man said the money was a gift from his mother.

After officers received consent to search the Impala, two police dogs
detected the scent of drugs coming from the vehicle. Deputies found
the rest of the cash hidden in a secret compartment, Grice said.

The men denied the money belonged to them. "They said they didn't
know the money was in the car," Grice said.

The Impala was rented in Pennsylvania, Grice said. The two men were
in their early 30s. One man had a California driver's license; the
other, a license from Indiana.

The money is being held for safekeeping, and no charges have been
filed. U.S. Customs Service agents are assisting the sheriff's office
with the ongoing investigation.

Federal asset forfeiture laws allow officers to seize amounts of cash
upon suspicion the money is connected with certain crimes, including
drug trafficking. Unless the owner comes forward to lawfully claim
the money, it is kept by federal agents.

When cash is seized by a local law enforcement agency, about 80
percent of the amount is returned to the agency and used to buy law
enforcement-related equipment. Recently, Grice has used returned cash
forfeitures to buy new radios for patrol cars and walkie-talkies.

Items on the sheriff's office wish list include new vehicles, an
evidence room ventilation system, jail renovations and 35 computers
that must be in place by Sept. 1 to meet State Bureau of
Investigation encryption standards for access to sensitive data.

Since January, sheriff's deputies have recorded two other large cash
seizures - one for $109,000 and another for $44,000.