DEA to traveler: Thanks, I’ll take that cash

[PoliticAverse]

Maybe he should have taken traveler’s checks.

But it’s too late for that now. All the money – $16,000 in cash – that Joseph Rivers said he had saved and relatives had given him to launch his dream in Hollywood is gone, seized during his trip out West not by thieves but by Drug Enforcement Administration agents during a stop at the Amtrak train station in Albuquerque.

An incident some might argue is still theft, just with the government’s blessing.

Rivers, 22, wasn’t detained and has not been charged with any crime since his money was taken last month.

Read the rest at: http://www.abqjournal.com/580107/news/dea-agents-seize-16000-from-aspiring-music-video-producer.html

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. “We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Waite said. “It’s that the money is presumed to

“We don’t have to prove that the person is guilty,” Waite said. “It’s that the money is presumed to be guilty.”

[uppityperson]

15. Welcome to DU, it sounds like quite the nasty happening.

Good luck to you, it is amazing what they are doing.

[Rex]

2. Amazing, so when can we expect the Wall Street Enforcement Agency to come along?

I mean, if crime proves guilt...ahem...

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. This shit is outrageous. The states are reforming; the feds really, really need to.

Holder made a start with his ending of the "equitable sharing" program that allowed state cops to do an end run around state laws by handing cases over to the feds, then splitting the profits.

But the DEA is still pulling this stuff.

The only federal asset forfeiture reform bills in Congress are from Republicans. Where are the Democrats?

[A Round Tuit]

4. Thieving bastards.

Most of the alphabet agencies are useless as tits on a boar hog.

And no, this ain't Obama's fault, it ain't Bush's fault, it goes all the way back to that piece of shit Nixon.

I do fault Holder, because he had the opportunity to stop this crap and did not. As has every AG before him.

(The fault thing is in response to comments at the site that named both of them.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. head fool and thief: Sean Waite, the agent in charge for the DEA in Albuquerque,

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. more. they thought they had a slam dunk - young black man who wouldn't contest the seizure

You are here: Home » News » Did DEA Racially Profile Black Amtrak Passenger?
Did DEA Racially Profile Black Amtrak Passenger?

Passengers who witnessed the incident questioned the DEA agents about why Rivers had been singled out. The agent didn’t ask any white passengers if he could search their bags, Pancer said the witnesses reported.
A passenger who was familiar with DEA raids on the Southwest Chief talked to Rivers after the agents left and began calling attorneys for him. Two he called in Albuquerque declined to take the case, but Pancer did
Pancer told ABQ Free Press that his office has handled many civil asset forfeiture cases and that it could take 60 to 90 days for Rivers to get his money back, if he gets it back at all. Under federal law, Rivers has to prove that the money wasn’t gotten through criminal activity

Pancer said seizing money is a no-lose gamble for law enforcement agencies.

“They have made a practice of doing searches without probable cause, convincing innocent people to give them consent [to search their bags],” Pancer said. “If there is a fair amount of cash they seize it and wait to see what the person who lost it does. Some individuals they’ve taken money from are not acquainted with the legal system and they don’t know that they can try to get the money back.”
Sean Waite, agent-in-charge of the DEA’s Albuquerque office, said he couldn’t discuss Rivers’ case, but said the DEA doesn’t target people by race. The DEA looks for inconsistencies in stories, how recently the train tickets have been purchased and other things to identify drug dealers and money couriers. “Race has nothing to do with it,” Waite said.

The Southwest Chief is lucrative for the DEA. In the past two years, Albuquerque agents have seized about $1 million from passengers, Waite said. On average, agents seize drugs on the train four times a week, he said.
http://www.freeabq.com/?p=1791

[sarcasmo]

7. Took a grand cash out of the bank and put the receipt

in my wallet. I have seen many of these stories where people have had large sums of cash taken and never returned. Wanted a receipt with me for proof that it wasn't from an "illegal transactions"

[Aerows]

16. Carry a receipt

if you intend to carry anything over $100. If you need to move money, get a cashier's check.

[Ghost Dog]

8. Presumption of guilt with victim required to prove innocence?

Yet another in a long list of reasons why I will never set foot in USA, not even in transit on the way to somewhere else.

[lpbk2713]

9. Arrest Cheney and make him account for all the money he stole.

It would keep them busy for years.

[djean111]

10. This sort of thing will not be getting any better - our new Attorney General is very on board with

civil theft, er, forfeiture -

http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2014/11/25/loretta-lynch-has-no-problem-with-civil-asset-forfeiture-and-thats-a-problem/

....
In an editorial published November 22, “Loretta Lynch’s Money Pot,” the Wall Street Journal revealed that during her tenure as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ms. Lynch has used civil asset forfeiture in more than 120 cases, raking in some $113 million for federal and local coffers. The trouble with civil asset forfeiture cases is that they frequently inflict severe losses on people who have only the most tenuous connection with a crime – or even no connection at all. (For some very distressing examples, see my September 12 Forbes article.)
.....

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Civil forfeiture laws.

They are just a peach.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. daily mail has picked up the story which will give it lots of exposure

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3077890/Black-aspiring-businessman-16-000-life-savings-seized-DEA-never-charged-crime.html

[uppityperson]

18. he, or sometimes claiming to be him, was banned yesterday after a jury his his fundraising post as s

He also asked people to learn about what happened, speak out and spread the word.