A Missouri police chief once called asset forfeiture “pennies from heaven”
It’s a rule that allows the government to seize the property of a person who has not even been charged with a crime. That includes an armored car carrying money from legal Missouri businesses.
The federal government has agreed to return more than a million dollars ($1.1 million) it seized from a courier doing Missouri medical marijuana business. The company, Empyreal Logistics, was taking money from legal Missouri marijuana businesses when its vehicle was reportedly targeted by Kansas authorities.
Because all marijuana business is still illegal on a federal level, cash and other valuables can be seized and distributed to Uncle Sam and the agency that captured the goods.
After a lawsuit by Empyreal Logistics, the government decided to give the money back to its rightful owner.
