DEA agents use travel-industry informants to seize cash, but rarely make arrests
The Drug Enforcement Administration is seizing purported drug cash at airports and Amtrak stations with the help of a network of travel agency informants, a newspaper investigation has found.
The agency has seized “a small fortune in cash” as a result of the tips, but it rarely uses the information to make arrests or pursue criminal cases, USA Today reports. In the last decade, DEA agents at the nation’s 15 busiest airports seized more than $209 million in cash.
Acting on tips, the drug agents approach travelers and ask them to answer a few questions. The agents go on to request to search the passengers’ luggage or they direct a dog sniff the bags for drugs.
Much of the seized money goes to local police that help the DEA, according to the newspaper. Louis Weiss, who formerly supervised a DEA group at the airport in Atlanta, said police count on the money in their budget. “Basically, you’ve got to feed the monster,” Weiss told USA Today.
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