TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - A woman traveling from Atlanta to San Diego with a child in a rental truck on a west Alabama interstate had $1.3 million in cash that federal investigators seized as drug proceeds. <br>
<br>
Alabama state troopers stopped the vehicle Tuesday on Interstate 20/59 near the Greene County line for an unspecified traffic violation, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Dorris Teague said. <br>
<br>
A search of the vehicle located the cash, which has been turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. <br>
<br>
The woman was released. Her name was not disclosed because no charges were filed immediately, said Gregory Borland, the DEA agent in charge of the Birmingham office. <br>
<br>
Borland said the investigation was ongoing. <br>
<br>
``We are confident that probable cause exists to justify forfeiture of the currency,'' he said Friday. <br>
<br>
He described the cash as ``proceeds from drug-trafficking activities.'' <br>
<br>
In such cases, the person who had the money confiscated must go to federal court to claim it after giving proof that it's not from drug dealing. <br>
<br>
It's the second multimillion-dollar seizure in Tuscaloosa County this year. <br>
<br>
Sheriffs deputies seized $2.27 million while conducting a traffic detail near the Greene County line Jan. 16. That money also was turned over to DEA, Borland said. <br>
<br>
There have been no arrests in the January incident. <br>
<br>
``These are two very significant seizures by anyone's standard,'' Borland said, calling it a challenge for drug dealers to deal with a large amount of currency once they've made deliveries. <br>
<br>
Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton said Friday that he doesn't know yet if his department will share in the forfeited drug money. <br>
<br>
``We do not count that in our budget,'' he said.
