State Patrol seizes another huge stash of cash

For the second time in as many days the Iowa State Patrol has seized a huge stash of cash. Troopers confiscated 737-thousand-908 dollars in a traffic stop Wednesday after the driver and passenger in a care denied any knowledge of the money. Patrol spokesman Robert Hansen says a stop for a registration violation led to another seizure Thursday morning on Interstate 80 near Wilton.The car had only one license plate and the driver drove for four miles before pulling over. Hansen says a drug dog was brought in and indicated it sensed drugs in the vehicle.The vehicle was searched and officers found bundles of money totaling 430-thousand-70 dollars hidden under the time inside the vehicle. The driver and two passengers in the vehicle were from Mexico, and like the case Wednesday, they denied knowledge of the money. All three were set free after turning over the money. The total money seized in the two days is over one-point-one million dollars, something Hansen says is unusual.Hansen says the seizures are part of the effort to focus on the drug traffic on I-80.Hansen says the Muscatine County Attorney has asked a judge to turn the money over to authorities since it was part of an illegal operation. If that’s done, Hansen says the money could go back to state and local law officers if a judge finds it indeed was part of illegal activity.Hansen says the money could be used to purchase equipment if it’s turned back to law officers.