Pubdate: Tue, 05 Nov 2002
Source: Tuscaloosa News, The (AL)
Copyright: 2002 The Tuscaloosa News
Contact:  http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1665
Author: Stephanie Taylor

POLICE SEIZE LARGE BUNDLES OF MONEY DURING TRAFFIC STOP

TUSCALOOSA - Thirty-eight bundles of cash were seized by authorities Monday 
after a man driving a rented van was pulled over for a traffic violation on 
Interstate 20/59 near the Tuscaloosa-Greene County line.

The money was still being counted late Monday, and the amount had not been 
established, but Sheriff Ted Sexton said each bundle weighed between one 
and three pounds.

It was the third cash seizure on the interstate in Tuscaloosa County this year.

Monday's seizure began after a Tuscaloosa County sheriff's deputy stopped a 
man around 11 a.m. near the 58-mile marker. The man told the deputy he was 
traveling west from Georgia to Dallas.

Deputies declined to identify the man but said he was 31 years old and from 
Garden Grove, Calif. He has not been charged with a crime.

A search of the man's rented van revealed 38 bundles of cash hidden in the 
paneling, Sexton said.

Sexton said the man was pulled over for a traffic violation but would not 
specify further.

"[The money] was taken into custody at the scene by the DEA," Sexton said. 
"It's en route to Birmingham, where a bank will count the money."

After Deputy Phillip Maddox found the money, Alabama State troopers, U.S. 
Drug Enforcement agents and West/sAlabama Narcotics agents responded to the 
scene.

Maddox is a member of the Sheriff's Office's felony detection unit, which 
consists of officers trained to spot felons.

It is not illegal to transport large sums of money, but officers can 
confiscate it and turn it over to the DEA. The federal agents investigate 
the origin of the money and give the driver an opportunity to prove it was 
obtained legitimately.

In January, sheriff's deputies seized $2.27 million near the same mile 
marker after stopping a 38-year-old man.

On Oct. 26, an Alabama State trooper stopped a woman who was driving from 
Georgia to California. He discovered $1.3 million wrapped in cellophane 
bundles, totaling 150 pounds.

Both agencies will be allowed to receive a portion of the seized cash if 
investigators determine it was drug-/srelated.
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