Money is illegal
 

During a stop at a weigh station in New Mexico on August 8, Prieto made a critical mistake: He cooperated with the police, assuming that as a law-abiding individual he had nothing to fear from them.

US v. $124,700 On de novo review, we respectfully disagree and reach a different conclusion. We believe that the evidence as a whole demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that there was a substantial connection between the currency and a drug trafficking offense. Possession of a large sum of cash is “strong evidence” of a
connection to drug activity, $84,615 in U.S. Currency, 379 F.3d at 501-02, and Gonzolez was carrying the very large sum of $124,700. The currency was concealed in aluminum foil inside a cooler, and while an innocent traveler might theoretically carry more than $100,000 in cash across country and seek to conceal funds from
would-be thieves on the highway, we have adopted the common-sense view that bundling and concealment of large amounts of currency, combined with other suspicious circumstances, supports a connection between money and drug trafficking.

I'm thinking we've gone far enough with this whole drug war. They're assuming guilt and taking peoples stuff. It sounds eerily familiar.

When I was a cop in Mexico, this stuff happened all the time. Who are you to pretend to understand the logistics behind these actions? You weren't there. :rolleyes:

I'm kidding, of course.

This is scary. The war on drugs is worse than just ineffective, it infringes on personal liberties.

You almost had me there. I need more coffee.

This makes me scared to carry around more than $119, 237.06

At least he wasn't tapping his toe in an airport men's room stall.

Money is illegal?

Hey! What do you know--I'm totally in compliance!!

Yay us!

Too funny. What? I was a cop in Mexico, right after my stint as an astronaut.
Carry it over here, dude. I'll keep an eye on it for you.:eyeball:

Hey, me too, for once.

That's not common sense, that unreasonable ASSumption.

Actually the only connection they have is the dog reacted to the money. That's bullshit because the courts have already determined that most large denomination bills are drug tainted. (edit~ That's the $124k case)

A few years ago, the NJ police stopped a car with 2 guys from down in the Carolinas somewhere, on the Atlantic City Expressway. They had something like $50 or $60 thousand on them, so the money was seized and the 2 guys told if they wanted it back they would have to take the state to court and prove they got it legally. That ain't right.

There was an idiot sheriff near here, Orange County, that did the same thing.
If you had "too much cash" and were a minority you "must be a drug dealer" and they took your money and car.
Happened for a long time.
How did they find the money, if you were not white and driving a nice car, you got pulled-over.
It was well known here before it broke in the press.
White kids used to dress-up just to mess with the nazi cops.

The press really needs to step up.

Cops need to learn it is none of their damn business why you have cash, no matter how much you have on you.

I need a shorthand for saying "I can't remember whether I read this in Popular Science, Discover, or Scientific American" ...

So as it turns out, the ink in American currency is like a magnet for cocaine molecules. Money circulates through many hands.

Score another point for the police state, minus one for those actually living in the "land of the free".

Terminator, try actually participating in the threads rather than walking around wearing the sandwich board.

This will improve the experience for all of us.