Another Victory In The War on Drugs
Saturday, 25 August 2007 by Jacob TomawBe careful the next time to cross the border. If you have more than $10,000 the DEA just assumes it is drug money and takes it. The Mises Economics Blog points out that this is exactly what happened to Anastasio Prieto in El Paso. He does not keep his savings in banks but keeps it with him as cash. My values may not line up with his on how to save my money, but this sure as heck is not illegal. With the most recent sub-prime/banking trouble, more people might consider this a smart strategy.
Thankfully the ACLU suing on his behalf to get his money back and stop this procedure. “The government took Mr. Prieto’s money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night,” ACLU’s New Mexico executive director, Peter Simonson said. “In fact, being robbed might have been better. At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator.”
October 4th, 2007 at 10:41
[…] told you 6 weeks ago that Anastasio Prieto had his cash holdings taken away from him by the DEA because he […]