Police seize suspected drug money in I-80/94 traffic stop
By Erin Guerra Post-Tribune correspondent September 24, 2012 1:40PM
Updated: October 26, 2012 6:13AM
PORTER — Police seized $7,272 of suspected drug money in a traffic stop at about 4:40 p.m. Saturday on Interstate 80/94.
Police did not have enough evidence to arrest the vehicle’s occupants, however.
A Porter County Sheriff’s Department officer was parked in the median at mile marker 24, as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiative. The officer pulled over a silver Buick LeSabre for following another vehicle too closely. The driver was a juvenile with a learner’s permit and the front-seat passenger, his guardian, apologized for the mistake, saying the juvenile was just learning how to drive. However, the officer believed the guardian’s eyes looked glassy and noticed an overabundance of air freshener in the vehicle.
During a search, police found the cash and a pill bottle with marijuana residue inside. The guardian, a 26-year-old from Cassopolis, Mich., could not explain why he had that much cash on him or how, as a fast food employee making $7.65 per hour, how got it.
The money is being held pending further investigation, police said.
