A review by state auditors has found at least $8,000 seized as evidence in eastern Iowa drug investigations cannot be found, but no criminal charges will be filed.
The first clue came last fall when the Muscatine County Attorney asked the Muscatine County Drug Task Force for the $5,000 in cash that had been seized in a case, but the money wasn’t in the safe or evidence room. Another $850 in cash from two other cases couldn’t be found.
The state auditor’s office review found more problems. A total of $8,110 worth of cash or money orders couldn’t be found, plus a C.D. player and two speakers which had been seized in another case couldn’t be located. State auditors say they were unable to determine whether more cash and property may be gone, too, and the Muscatine County Drug Task Force paperwork “was not adequate.”
A spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety says the state Division of Criminal Investigation conducted an investigation and the findings were turned over to the attorney general’s office, but the attorney general’s office “decided there is insufficient evidence to prosecute at this time.”
Officers from the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office, the Muscatine Police Department and the Division of Narcotics Enforcement are part of the Muscatine County Drug Task Force.