Feds can seize anything these days - right from your bra!

badshotbob · 06-24-2005, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Woman Carrying $47K in Bra at Airport Sues

By Associated Press

Fri Jun 24, 0:48 AM

BOSTON - A Quincy woman who apparently stuffed $46,950 in cash in her bra before trying to board a plane to Texas for plastic surgery has sued a federal agency, demanding the return of her money.

The money was seized from Ileana Valdez, 26, after a security check at a metal detector at Logan International Airport on Feb. 3. Valdez told authorities she was heading to Texas for plastic surgery on her buttocks and breasts.

"I don't know why she was carrying it (the cash) in her bra," said Boston lawyer Tony V. Blaize, who filed the suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on behalf of Valdez.

In her suit, Valdez said a male Drug Enforcement Administration agent told her she had a nice body and didn't need surgery - and then seized the cash, claiming it was drug money.

Valdez, a single mother said in her suit that she has no criminal record and earned the money by selling her Dorchester business and two parcels of property in Boston's Jamaica Plain section.

Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA in Boston, said he could not comment on the lawsuit. But he said federal asset forfeiture laws allow agents to seize suspected drug profits.

"federal asset forfeiture laws allow agents to seize suspected drug profits."

Funny stuff. Unless she had a crack pipe stuffed up her ____, I see no reason to suspect drug money here, no?

rick_reno · 06-24-2005, 01:19 PM

She'll play hell trying to get her money returned. In our new monarchy, those in power can take what they want - when they want it. Like they say "What's mine is mine, and what is yours we share"

tardfarmer · 06-24-2005, 01:28 PM

1) IF she's smart enough to own a business and property, she's smart enough to have opened a checking acct. Why the hell would she be carrying 46K on her?

2) why would she be traveling all the way to texas for plastic surgery when the best plastic surgeons in the country are found on the east coast?

There is more to this story than this, I bet this is dope money.

badshotbob · 06-24-2005, 01:37 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: tardfarmer

1) IF she's smart enough to own a business and property, she's smart enough to have opened a checking acct. Why the hell would she be carrying 46K on her?

2) why would she be traveling all the way to texas for plastic surgery when the best plastic surgeons in the country are found on the east coast?

There is more to this story than this, I bet this is dope money.

I don't know, Tard - does it really matter? I mean where is the proof this was drug money? I think you're giving people way too much credit in being smart.

tardfarmer · 06-24-2005, 01:56 PM

Quote:

I don't know, Tard - does it really matter? I mean where is the proof this was drug money?

I think we're only getting part of the story. I find it HIGHLY unlikely that the money would simply be taken and a verbal "well, it's got to be drug money" excuse given and that is that.

Quote:

I think you're giving people way too much credit in being smart.

Possibly

kevin1 · 06-24-2005, 01:57 PM

I agree with Badshot , who says it's drug money ?
I think they should at least have to give reson for their suspicion of it being drug money before seizing it . Were any drugs found when they searched her ? If not she deserves to get the money back and sue the sheit out of the DEA . Those azzholes have gotten way too big for their britches anyway . [:@]

Aught Six · 06-24-2005, 02:31 PM

Yep, we're not getting the whole story, and we probably never will. But in a hypothetical situation, carrying cash in your bra certainly doesn't cause enough suspicionfor a seizure, even if it is very strange.

Aught Six · 06-24-2005, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Those azzholes have gotten way too big for their britches anyway .

No kidding. They never have and never will put an end to the drug trade, and a lot of honest people bite the bullet for the DEA's failures.

rick_reno · 06-24-2005, 03:01 PM

Some people like to carry cash. My father, who died in the late 80's never had a credit card and when traveling would carry $20k in cash on him. I hassled him about it once, he said "It's in case I see something I want to buy". He operated on a strictly cash basis. In America, it used to be ok to do this.

hntngirl · 06-24-2005, 03:03 PM

If I want to carry around my entire life savings and a bag of doritos in my bra, that's nobody else's business. And by the way, carrying money in your bra isn't unheard of. Just usually in much smaller amounts. She may very well have felt that it was a safe place to put it.
She had no prior record, there's no mention of anything else being found to indicate drugs were involved. Whether the rest of her story makes sense or not---too bad. They had no cause as far as I'm concerned.