Northern District of Alabama Press Release


	UNITED STATES ATTORNEY JOYCE WHITE VANCE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			CONTACT: PEGGY SANFORD
	SEPTEMBER 22, 2009			PHONE: (205) 244-2020
	www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln			FAX: (205) 244-2171

U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance today presented $979,717 to the Alabama Department of Public Safety and $65,314 to the Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Office under the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program.
            On the morning of July 9, 2008, Alabama State Trooper Mike Harris stopped a van bearing a Mexico license plate for improper lane usage on Interstate 20/59 in Tuscaloosa. The couple in the van were residents of Sinaloa, Mexico, and did not speak English. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Morales was called to help translate for the trooper.
            The couple said they were returning to Mexico from a visit to Birmingham. After the husband and wife gave differing accounts of their visit to Birmingham, Trooper Harris asked for and received written consent to search the van. Troopers discovered 62 bundles of cash hidden in the van’s roof. A trained narcotics dog alerted to the scent of drugs on the cash bundles. The money was seized and later tallied at $1,306,365.
            The federal Drug Enforcement Administration directed forfeiture of the money after no claims were filed for it.
            The van driver, Omar Higinio Barron Barron, told officers he had been hired to drive the money from Birmingham to Tuscon, Ariz. He and his wife had ridden a bus from Mexico to Phoenix, then flew to Birmingham with prepaid tickets. He said they were provided the van to drive to Tucson after they had been in Birmingham a few days. Barron Barron said he knew there was money in the van, but he did not know how much.
            Barron Barron and his wife were to be paid $5,000 for the trip once they returned to Mexico by bus, he told police.
            The federal Asset Forfeiture Program serves to deter crime, return assets to victims and provide money to state and local law enforcement agencies to further law enforcement efforts. Through the Department of Justice’s Equitable Sharing Program, 80 percent of forfeited funds are available for sharing with state and local law enforcement agencies, based on participation. The remaining 20 percent stays in the department’s Asset Forfeiture Fund to use for victim restitution and administering the forfeiture program.
            Since 1984 when the forfeiture program was implemented under the Comprehensive Crime Control Act, more than $4.5 billion has been shared with more than 8,000 state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide.
            This year in Alabama, $6.9 million has gone back to state and local law enforcement. The Department of Public Safety has received $3.8 million since Jan. 1. The Tuscaloosa Sheriff’s Office has received $89,317 since that date.