Kan. Police steal 1 million dollars after claiming it smelled like pot

A Clark County undersheriff said he was just following his instincts when he found more than $1 million during a traffic stop. Undersheriff Daniel Knowles stopped a vehicle last week on U.S. 54 just outside of Minneola and became suspicious of the driver. Knowles searched the car and found a hidden compartment with the money packed inside. He said the money smelled like marijuana. The total amount was $1,017,183.

Paperwork has been filed with the Clark County Attorney's office to begin the asset forfeiture process.

The Drug Enforcement Agency is helping to investigate the incident. The names of the people in the car have not been released.

MSNBC Article


More government sanctioned theft.

What will it take to put a stop to this?

reply to post by brainwrek


I don't see how it was stolen.

Maybe you could show me the exact line or paragraph where it says the cop took it illegally.

reply to post by Berserker01


Lets see....

If the cops arrested a drug trafficker, the headline would be something along the lines of "Kansas police arrest drug smuggler with $1,000,000 in cash!!!!"

See anything about the driver being arrested? Charged?

Need more examples of police stealing money from people without them ever being arrested or charged?

I'd be happy to provide you with more than you care to read.

So is it illegal to have 1million $ in cash now?

I though they had to find actual drugs to justify a "drug bust"?

What if he just got back from the Casino and hid the money in case someone tried to rob him ??

And "smells like" does not prove crap in court...

I can say anything smells like anything I want, does not prove anything at all.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I would have to concur w/ you on that one, I could have sworn actual drugs were needed for a bust like that.

But as for the casino theory, I have won a few big amounts in my times at casinos, and they paid me by check w/ those wins.

Perhaps the driver cleaned out his savings and was planning on leaving the country, who knows.

reply to post by Berserker01


You still didn't show me where it was stolen.


Don't you think this could be an on going investigation and like all cases that are on going, they simply cannot comment on the specifics in the case?

But your title is certainly an attention grabber, which was probably your reasoning behind it. Nevermind that the article doesn't mention anything about cops stealing anything.

Even if it did "smell" like pot, studies show that over 90% of U.S. currency contains trace amounts of drugs on them. Still doesnt mean the driver was guilty of anything, nor does it warrant confiscation of this mans money.

In these times, "it ain't your money if it smells funny"!
And "if you hide it from us you're even more guilty"!

And "good luck gettin' it back bubba"!

Keeping us all safe, of course.

Come on people... You really think this "innocent" guy just happened to have over 1 mil in cash in pocket as he drove around? Now i'm not a cop... I've been to jail on a Marijuana charge so I have no love for the police but you need to use common sense. A relative was dealing coc aine for a years finally the police caught him... Guess how? He bought 2 cars in cash in the same week...Well they looked into him only to find he hadn't worked a job in years. If this guy really is innocent a quick search of his financial history will clear this guy right up... Unless he is guilty.

reply to post by electricveins


In the United States you cannot "find someone guilty" on suspicion alone.

You are required to provide evidence that proves the case in a court of law.

Last I checked, having a ton of $ is not illegal. And it does not prove anything.

This "confiscation" is theft because they are not providing any legitimate evidence to prove he is guilty of any crime at all.

Due process.

On a state highway do they not need a warrant to search your car? The article claims the undersherrif became suspicious of the driver but it does not indicate why the driver was pulled over and it does not state any drugs were found, this is where the stealing comes from. People cannot drive in their car with lots of cash anymore? What prompted the search of the vehicle?

If the guy was innocent you would have heard him by now.

If something like this happened to me, EVERYONE would know about it, all the way up to my Senators, President, Supreme Court, not to mention every media outlet available.

The silence of this guy is deafening.

Originally posted by brainwrek
Even if it did "smell" like pot, studies show that over 90% of U.S. currency contains trace amounts of drugs on them. Still doesnt mean the driver was guilty of anything, nor does it warrant confiscation of this mans money.

So your reasoning that it smelled like pot is because 90% of money contains trace amounts of drugs?

I can't smell pot on my dollar bill, but I guess by your reasoning I would get an overwhelming smell if I had a million + of them.

You still failed to show me where in the article it states that it was stolen.

reply to post by muzzleflash


I understand your point . All I am saying is it is not normal for someone to be driving around with over 1 million dollars. Well it is normal for drug dealers. If he is innocent he will get his money back.

reply to post by Berserker01


Saying the driver was arrested wouldnt be a specific detail of the case.

Here are a few more examples for you to (poorly) attempt to justify....

Police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched at her luggage. Agents searched her bags and strip-searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash, money she had received from an insurance settlement and her life savings; accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the police kept her money anyway. Nearly four years later, she is still trying to get her money back.

In Albuquerque, N.M., in February 2000, DEA agents detained Sam Thach, who was traveling on Amtrak from Fullerton, Calif., to Boston, and seized $147,000 in cash he was carrying. Thach had no drugs. His crime? He had bought a one-way ticket with cash and didn't give Amtrak his phone number

reply to post by electricveins


Really? He will get his money back?

Not quite so.

Time after time people have money and assets seized, are never charged with a crime, and never get their property back.

Carrying around large sums of cash isnt illegal, nor is it suspicious.

If there were no drugs in the vehicle, then there is no justification for the police to seize the money.

The guy may be guilty as sin, however in the absence of incriminating evidence beyond simply a large amount of cash he and his money are innocent. I would be acting "strange" too if I were stopped and I had a million dollars hidden in the car regardless of how I came to have it.

Those of you who ask what theft was committed are asking for more of whats left of your rights to be slowly taken away.

reply to post by brainwrek


I have to get ready for work. I'll be back on later. Like I said in my first post I am not a big fan of LEOs... If I'm wrong I will be more than happy to have you educate me.

reply to post by brainwrek


Okay, I didn't say it doesn't happen and those article clips shows that their money was stolen.

What I am asking for the third time is where in the original article does it state that they stole his/her money.

I am asking for evidence in the article to support your title, not your opinion.

[edit on 29-1-2010 by Berserker01]

If they were to let him go and he went out and bought an arsenal of weapons and shot up some place people would be criticizing the police here.

It's a lose lose. Seriously, is it normal to drive around with that much money in cash???

What would YOU have done?

Whatever, every thread is a lose lose now here on ATS. It's pretty sad~