Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Copyright: 2000 Amarillo Globe-News Contact: P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166 Fax: (806) 373-0810 Website: http://amarillonet.com/ Forum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action4 Author: Janet Bresenham, Globe-News Staff Writer CLAYTON POLICE SEIZE $217,780 IN CASH CLAYTON, N.M. - The Clayton Police Department soon might have a much bigger budget with which to enforce the law in northeastern New Mexico. During a traffic stop Saturday morning, Clayton Police Officer Johnny Rivera said he seized $217,780 that was stacked in bundles covered with plastic wrap and hidden under the dash of the vehicle. The weekend cash seizure is the largest anyone can recall in the Clayton area, Rivera said. Rivera said he discovered the money at about 11:10 a.m. MDT Saturday after he stopped an Amarillo couple in a 1993 Mercury Villager van that appeared to be speeding on U.S. Highway 87 south of Clayton toward Dalhart. "During my conversation with the driver and his passenger, they kept giving me conflicting stories," Rivera said. "The driver gave me oral and written consent to search the vehicle. I was looking near the driver's side door when I saw a package of U.S. currency under the dash wrapped in plastic. Then I saw several other bundles of cash stashed under the dash." Rivera said the driver and the lone passenger in the van denied any knowledge of the money and signed a disclaimer saying they did not know the money was there and it did not belong to them. At that point, Rivera said he was able to seize the cash as abandoned property. While there is no state law against carrying large amounts of cash, police are able to seize money in a case like this when the people in the vehicle deny knowledge of the money and do not claim it, Rivera said. Rivera also seized the van because he said the driver could not show proof of ownership for the vehicle. The driver showed the officer a title to the van, but the title only had the name of a previous owner, Rivera said. Although large cash seizures sometimes are associated with narcotics, Rivera said no drugs were found in the van where the money bundles were found in this case. The van's male driver and his girlfriend, the female passenger, live in Amarillo, where the man recently moved to from Dodge City, Kan., Rivera said. Police did not release the names of the driver and passenger because they were not charged with any crimes, Rivera said. The couple was detained, released and allowed to return to Amarillo with the woman's father, who had traveled to Clayton to pick them up, Rivera said. Rivera said law-enforcement officials are working on filing forfeiture papers in court as the first step toward keeping the cash for the Clayton Police Department. But before the police department can retain the cash, forfeiture proceedings must be held, and a judge must review the case and issue a forfeiture authorization, Rivera said. If the forfeiture is approved, the van either could be kept by the Clayton Police Department or auctioned. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek