(NewsNation) — The U.S. Department of Justice has stepped in to halt a program that allowed U.S. drug enforcement agents to search airline passengers‘ bags and seize their cash without a warrant or criminal charges.
The plain-clothed Drug Enforcement Administration agents would approach people they believed to be traveling with a large amount of cash or who were heading to an area with heavy drug traffic, according to a memorandum published by the DOJ.
Despite not being guilty of a crime, agents would then search the travelers’ bags, confiscate the cash and send them on their way. Many never got their money back, as the process to recover the confiscated cash is complicated — and could result in legal fees.
In the memo, the inspector general of the United States said DEA personnel created “potentially significant operational and legal risks.”
Brian Moore, 31, decided to move to Los Angeles in 2021 to pursue a new career. But on his trek from Atlanta to LA, he was stopped because of the hefty cash he carried.
Cash, he told NewsNation, that came from selling a car.
“They said I had $8,500,” he explained. “I got that money from selling the car that my grandfather left us when he passed away. That was basically the last thing that we had from him. So, we collectively came together as a family and decided that I could sell the car to use the money for my music career.“
Agents took Moore’s money in a practice called “cold consent encounters.”
Victim Stacy Esposito spoke to NewsNation about her massive monetary loss of $42,000.
“There was no indication that I was doing anything nefarious. I didn’t carry and have drug paraphernalia. I mean, nothing. There was no reason for them to think that that money was used in connection, or, you know, for any type of illegal activity,” Esposito explained.
According to Esposito, she and her husband were flying from Wilmington, North Carolina, with the cash from selling their car. Before the couple could pass through security, their money was taken.
“They said you can get it back when you can prove that, you know, what you’re telling us is true,” Esposito said. “And that was it. The guy handed us a business card and sent us on our way with no receipt, nothing. Just took the money and, you know, sent us on the plane.”
Though Esposito was never charged, the stop cost her her job at an airline.
“I was suspended while it was all under investigation,” she said, adding that the investigation took longer than the company’s allotted 90 days, meaning she’d have to be fired or resign.
Sources tell NewsNation that, oftentimes, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tips off the DEA when agents spot cash in someone’s bag. The seized money is typically split among law enforcement agencies involved in the search, according to Reuters reporting.
Suspicion also grows if someone’s ticket is a last-minute purchase, the DEA said.
Despite facing no charges, people whose money was taken have a process to get it returned: They have to prove the seizure wasn’t connected to criminal activity. Doing that can be timely and costly, leaving many to say goodbye to their seized money forever.
The Institute for Justice has filed a class-action lawsuit against TSA and DEA on behalf of some victims of the program.
