Got Cash? Hand It Over To The Cops.
If you've got it in Tennessee, no matter whether there's any evidence it's drug money, and you get stopped by the cops, they may keep your money -- without filing a single charge.

A link to the story by Phil Williams of NewsChannel5:

Case in point: a 2009 stop where a tractor trailer was stopped for a traffic violation, leading to a search and the discovery of large blocks containing almost $200,000 cash -- cash that officers keep on the suspicion that it's drug money.

"What's wrong with having a large amount of cash?" asked Karen Petrosyan, a California businessman who owned the truck.

Petrosyan refuses to admit there's anything suspicious about the stash that police discovered. Officers later released his father, who was driving the truck, without filing a single charge -- and authorities cut a deal that let Petrosyan come to Tennessee to get his big rig back.
Read officers' narrative about why money seized

"If I am a criminal, if they allege me to be a criminal," Petrosyan told NewsChannel 5 Investigates, "why would they settle? They do not just let criminals go."

District Attorney General Kim Helper said that "in general, it was seized because -- based upon our evidence and probable cause -- it's illegal drug proceeds."

Still, Helper admitted that what makes the Petrosyan case a bit unusual is the location. The traffic stop occurred in Smith County, near the Carthage exit. But the officers work for Helper's 21st Judicial District Drug Task Force out of Franklin -- more than an hour away.

Her officers patrol that area under a deal where they give a third of any cash they seize to the agency that owns that stretch of road.
Read the agreement between the 21st and 15th judicial districts

"It's a way to make money ... for your task force?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Helper.

The DA paused.

"Honestly?" we asked, prompting a smile from Helper.

"Well, you know, when you say 'make money,' I guess it is a way for us to continue to fund our operations so that we can put an end to drug trafficking and the drug trade within this district," she responded.

It is absolutely disgusting the way the prosecutor justifies stealing citizens' cash because they need to fund their drug enforcement.

UPDATE: In Wisconsin, a mother posted bail money for her son in cash and had it seized by the police on the grounds that it was drug money. With no evidence of that whatsoever. (As most of you posting here probably know, most U.S. paper money is said to test positive for cocaine.)

@mpetrie98