The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been criminalizing airline passengers since the Patriot Act gave them the permission to treat everyone as a suspected terrorist. The Justice Department has finally suspended the DEA from most passenger searches after an investigation revealed that the DEA was perhaps violating the Constitution with illegal and warrantless searches.
A Justice Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) memorandum outlined a DECADE worth of “significant concerns” about how DEA agents have been fabricating the criteria necessary to search passengers. In fact, the OIG found that one airline employee was paid tens of thousands of dollars as a kickback for seizing cash from unsuspecting passengers on behalf of the DEA.
The majority of searches and seizures at airports never find an actual crime. That does not prevent DEA agents from coercing passengers into forfeiting their assets. There are countless stories of innocent passengers losing everything for carrying an amount greater than $5,000 on board.
The DEA attempted to steal the life savings of a retired railroad engineer who had $82,373 in cash. The agency was forced to return he funds when the case went public. In another instance, a woman had over $40,000 confiscated without valid reason. Yet again, the DEA had to return the money when the story hit the news. This happens extremely frequently, but it is rare for the agency to return funds once they have been confiscated.
According to the Justice Department Office of Inspector General, the DEA seized $4 billion in cash from potential drug smugglers from 2007 to 2017, but only $3.2 billion was found to be connected to criminal activity. The report concluded: “”When seizure and administrative forfeitures do not ultimately advance an investigation or prosecution, law enforcement creates the appearance, and risks the reality, that it is more interested in seizing and forfeiting cash than advancing an investigation or prosecution.”
What is considered suspicious activity? “When you buy a last-minute ticket, we get alerts,” one DEA officer explained. “We come out, and we talk to those people, which I’ve tried to do to you, but you wouldn’t allow me to do it.” Purchasing a flight with an immediate return could set off the alarm, as could purchasing a ticket within 24 hours of travel. The DEA considers it suspicious if you travel without checked luggage.
Once, I flew back to the States from Europe during the July Fourth holiday. My ticket was originally booked for JFK in New York. I then remembered the traffic would be horrific so I switched to Philadelphia. When I landed, I was met by two IRS agents. Apparently, there was sting they set up at JFK looking for Americans coming home for holidays who do not pay taxes here. I said, “You can check. I pay my taxes here and do not live overseas.” That was not good enough. They thought I was tipped off to their sting in NYC, so they sent two agents to intercept me in Philadelphia simply because I switched planes.
How do we permit government agencies to seize assets on the premise of suspicion? Then, we allow these agencies to split the proceeds they illegally seized even if no crime was committed. Does the Constitution not apply at the airport?
