ATLANTA — If you’re flying with cash, police can take it without ever having to prove you did something wrong.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray found out that it’s happening regularly at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and that it can be a long and expensive process to get that money back, even if you’re never charged with a crime.
Brian Moore Jr. was flying from Atlanta to Los Angeles to shoot a music video.
“I had about $8,500 on me,” Moore said.
Jerry Johnson was heading from Charlotte to Phoenix with cash to buy a truck at auction.
“It was $39,500,” Johnson said.
Both men’s trips were a waste because their cash was gone, seized by law enforcement.
“There’s nothing different than being robbed. Somebody’s come up with a gun and take your money and then walk off,” Johnson said.
A DEA agent snapped a picture of Moore, who had green hair at the time, at the gate at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport heading to Los Angeles.
“They announced we were about to start boarding and I was approached by two women and one of them quickly flashed me a card,” Moore said.
He said they asked if he was carrying guns or drugs. He wasn’t. Then they asked about cash which he did have.
“I’ve never been in a situation to where I was being treated as a terrorist or a criminal or something less than a person,” Moore said.
He said he explained to the DEA agents the money was his to pay for his music video from the sale of his grandfather’s car he inherited.
“They put my money in a big Ziplock bag, and they told me I was free to go. They were like, ‘You might want to leave or you’re going to miss your flight,’” Moore said.
A picture shows Moore’s money in the Ziplock bag.