Huh? That is what our court system is all about. You could paint any arrest in that way. They are innocent until proven guilty so....what? No holding them or requiring bail? When there is enough suspicion then you get what you get. The lady was stupid to play so loose with that much money in the first place. We are a nation of laws and if you break them, you pay. Our legal system is set up where you get your day in court and the burden of proof is on the prosecution. But suspicious activity will land you in the middle for a while. It is a process. You guys want to blame law enforcement for noticing and acting on the suspicious behavior. Is it perhaps because you don't like drug laws in the first place?
What drugs? What proof?
This person was searched after someone got the doggie to give them probable cause and the money was found then.
Did the dog alert for 'drugs'? Probably, but that doesn't mean this had anything to do with drugs. With that much currency, just the contamination on the bills was likely enough for them to get a reaction from the drug dog.
As for "drugs" read this:
In a study reported in Forensic Science International, A.J. Jenkins, at the Office of the Cuyahoga County Coroner (Cleveland, OH), the author reports the analysis of ten randomly collected one-dollar bills from five cities, and tested for cocaine, heroin, 6-acetylmorphine (also called "6-AM"), morphine, codeine, methamphetamine, amphetamine and phencyclidine (PCP). Bills were then immersed in acetonitrile for two hours prior to extraction and subjected to Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Results demonstrated that "92% of the bills were positive for cocaine with a mean amount of 28.75 ± 139.07 micrograms per bill, a median of 1.37 μg per bill, and a range of 0.01-922.72 μg per bill. Heroin was detected in seven bills in amounts ranging from 0.03 to 168.5 μg per bill: 6-AM and morphine were detected in three bills; methamphetamine and amphetamine in three and one bills, respectively, and PCP was detected in two bills in amounts of 0.78 and 1.87 μg per bill. Codeine was not detected in any of the one-dollar bills analyzed". The study confirmed that although paper currency was most often contaminated with cocaine, other drugs of abuse may also be detected in bills.[4][5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_currencyNow, once again, with feeling....
Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws DO NOT require that the owner of the asset be convicted, nor even charged with a crime. The assumption is that the asset is 'guilty' of being something derived from illicit activity or used in illicit activity, and the asset is deemed forfeit, confiscated , and the proceeds from the sale of the asset are distributed, in part to the agency which confiscated it. The asset need not be anything illegal, in and of itself.
In order for an person not charged with, or found not guilty in court of any charges, to get their property back, that person must sue the confiscating jurisdiction to get the asset back. There are no guarantees that the expenses incurred will result in the return of the original asset. While impounded property may be returned after someone accused is exonerated, NO property seized under Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws is automatically returned to the owner, and often, there are no charges to be cleared of and no trial involved in the seizure of the asset. There is a distinct difference in the legal treatment of "impounded property" and assets seized under Asset Forfeiture laws. Small confiscations of cash are commonly not challenged, for economic reasons (costs more to sue than the amount taken), not because anyone is guilty. A few thousand dollars can be taken before the cost of getting the asset back is at break-even with the legal costs to do so, and that is a risk, because absolutely nothing is guaranteed in court.
We like to think that is all fair and that, but sometimes it just isn't.
As I said up thread. I'm all for the death penalty for those who deal illicit drugs. Give 'em a trial, get the verdict, march 'em to the yard, I'd volunteer for the firing squad. I can't recount the cost to my family over this sh*t, nor can I adequately express my contempt for the pushers out there in any language. Profanity is inadequate.
But I am still not willing to throw our 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendment Rights out the window and create major incentive for corruption of LEOs to fight this.