Of course Yahoo buried the lede:
While the searches may not be popular, they’re certainly profitable.
Clayton County records and federal documents show that drug agents find large amounts of cash on passengers at departing gates rather than drugs. Agents have seized millions of dollars, and while travelers aren’t arrested, their money is often administratively forfeited.
Like most civil forfeiture cases, people who have their money taken must prove in court that their money isn’t connected to drug trafficking or other illegal activity. Seizures like these don’t just happen at the Atlanta airport. They’ve taken place at airports across the country.
Nah, they REALLY buried the lede with this bit further down. Emphasis added.
Most travelers are unclear of their rights when it comes to airport searches. In order to be admitted entry to the airport’s gated areas, passengers must submit themselves to TSA security screenings. That’s a fact.
However, the random searches by DEA agents at the Atlanta airport give passengers pause, but it should be noted that they’re not mandated. The DEA officially calls its stops and searches at airport gates “cold consent encounters,” and passengers are free to end the encounter and walk away if they’d like.
free to end the encounter and walk away if they’d like.
Well I know what I’m going to do. “Get fucked pig” and walk off.
Willing to bet just about anything that the second you try, they’ll find probable cause to detain you
I’ll gladly make it an aggravated arrest.
Might end up on a no fly list and with federal charges, but you’ve surely showed them.
They have the upper hand, and no amount of imagined badassery will fix this systemic problem.
Phantastic country where the police can just legally rob you.
In fairness, it DOES vary state by state. Some states require a conviction before they can just seize your assets, but not all of them.
One of the interesting things about having 50 different rules and regulations.
https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-rights/asset-forfeiture-laws-by-state.html
well, this is federal, so it applies to all states…
