Why Would Police Pull Someone Over, Take Their Drugs and Their Money, and Let Them Go?

I confront this situation all the time as a criminal defense attorney where the police are either not arresting my clients or not arresting some that my clients are associated with.

However, yet they're taking the drugs that they find with them, or they are taking a bunch of cash that they find on them, but then they don't arrest the person, and they can't figure out why the police are doing that.

The reality is that you probably got caught up in the middle of a big drug investigation.  In other words, the police will, a lot of times, wiretap people's phones, and get information about drugs being moved and transferred to a location.

Then, stop that person intentionally and take the drugs away from them to be able to confirm that those wiretap messages really did involve conversations about drugs.

Obviously, that would be a pretty good argument if they got drugs.  But maybe they're not ready to indict or prosecute everybody yet.

Drug Crime Investigation

So, they will eventually let the person go so they can continue to put their case together.

You might be caught up in the middle of a big state or federal drug investigation.

Because once they arrest everyone in a drug case or once they file a drug case, the attorney for the person that they arrested will be able to receive a copy of their entire investigation. This includes all the evidence and information the police have gathered against you. This is part of the legal process and is known as 'discovery '.

So that attorney will be able to see who is under investigation and who they are about to arrest.

Then, a lot of times, they will tell their client, and their client will tell the other people who are involved in the drug transaction, and then the people end up getting away because the information was given to them.

Also, they stop their drug transactions, and the police could get a huge bust because they get word that the authorities are about to arrest them or the authorities are investigating them.

So, what the feds like to do, and even sometimes the state police, is they will just let the person who is caught with the drugs or money.

They'll take it away from them, indict them, or file a case against them later. Then, using the same stuff, they'll come back and arrest anybody who was involved in the particular case.

Investigating Large-Scale Drug Activity

So, that's what you really need to know, is that once the police are grabbing drugs or grabbing money, you can bet there's a huge investigation going on, and you're caught in the middle of it.

You might be the target of the investigation or just happen to be dealing with the target of the investigation.

But no matter what the case is, make no bones about it: You're in jeopardy of being arrested, and you want to get an attorney right away.

Let that attorney contact the authorities who took the drugs and talk to them.  I do this all the time to see if I can confirm whether or not my client is about to be arrested. An attorney can negotiate on your behalf and potentially prevent your arrest or secure a more favorable outcome.

Perhaps my client is involved in some sort of drug investigation. In that case, I could make moves on my client's behalf to help them ensure the best possible result in their matter.

If they're about to do something that will result in their arrest or give the evidence to the prosecutors and police that they need to prosecute them, obviously, I'm going to try to stop them from doing that so that they don't end up getting arrested.

Can I Get My Seized Money Back?

I make moves all the time when money or drugs have been seized, and a lot of times, people want to get their money back.  Obviously, they're not going to be able to get their drugs back.

If you want to get your money back after drug investigation, we have to prove it came from a legitimate source.

But if you want your money back, that's a whole different scenario that I deal with. It involves being able to source the money and prove that it is not from drugs but from something else that's legitimate.

So, this is not uncommon that somebody's money or drugs are taken away from them, and then there's no case filed against them.

Another thing that I see is that the person's money or drugs will be taken away from them, and then they'll get a court date, and then the state court will take the case.

Sometimes, the state court will keep it; other times, the state court is mainly a stall tactic. While the feds get their act together, the states stall things for them.

Ultimately, the feds end up indicting the person on drug charges, and then the state just dismisses their case and lets the feds deal with it. This means that you could potentially face charges at both the state and federal level, which can have serious implications for your case and your future.

Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Call (213) 542-0979 for a free case evaluation.