LOCAL OFFICIALS FIND $1.3 MILLION IN VAN, ORIGIN OF CASH UNKNOWN

TUSCALOOSA -- Alabama State Troopers have seized more than $1.3 million in
cash from a woman they pulled over near the Greene County line Tuesday morning.

The trooper stopped a woman driving southbound on Interstate 20/59 and
obtained permission to search her truck. Alabama Department of Public
Safety spokeswoman Dorris Teague said the woman was stopped for an
unspecified traffic violation.

The driver, whose name was not released, was questioned after officers
found $1,340,105 in cash in the vehicle. She was released without being
charged.

Authorities did not release details about the woman's destination, where
she had come from or whether there were any passengers in the vehicle.

The Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration are investigating the origin of the money.

If the money is determined to be drug-related, the Department of Public
Safety would be eligible to receive a portion of the seized cash under
asset forfeiture laws.

This is potentially the second million-dollar-plus windfall for authorities
in Tuscaloosa County this year.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies seized $2.27 million while conducting
a traffic detail near the Greene County line Jan. 16. Sheriff Ted Sexton
said at the time that it was one of the largest cash seizures ever made in
the state.