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Immigrant Wants DEA To Give His $148,000 Back
By Guillermo Contreras
Journal Staff Writer
On Hoang Thach is either a lucky gambler or a drug-courier whose luck ran out.
Federal drug agents are gambling on the latter: They seized $148,000 from Thach, 26, last year on an Amtrak train in Albuquerque.
The government wants to keep the cash. Federal prosecutors say agents had reason to search Thach's roomette and belongings and that he hasn't come up with a credible explanation for where he got the money.
Thach, a Vietnamese immigrant who settled in the Boston area 10 years ago, claims he was returning from a wedding in California when the money was confiscated in February 2000.
Thach had $149,000 in a backpack. Federal agents took $148,000 and gave him a receipt, letting him keep $1,000 to continue his trip.
No drugs were found, and Thach has not been charged with a crime.
His attorney, D. Penni Adrian of Albuquerque, contends a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer identified her client from a passenger manifest he obtained from Amtrak.
Adrian said Thach was targeted because he was a minority, was traveling alone, had paid for his one-way ticket in cash and left no call-back number when the ticket was reserved.
"All they knew is he was a minority who paid cash for his ticket," Adrian said in an interview.
Court records say Thach told agents he won the money gambling at casinos in Los Angeles, Boston and Connecticut and that some came from his job at a company that makes nails.
The government says agents established reasonable suspicion to search Thach's belongings because he had several characteristics that likened him to a drug courier and because he was evasive or contradictory in answers about his travel plans.
The government also contends he gave consent for a search and even helped an agent take the money out of a backpack. He then gave inconsistent answers about where he got the cash, the government says.
In a court document, a prosecutor said further investigation shows Thach won no more than $25,000 from casinos where he reported gambling. And Thach, the government said, grosses $800 to $1,000 a week at his job.
"In short, the government has furthered its support that Thach's claims of a legitimate income are not credible, and Thach has provided no proof of a legitimate source or purpose that would support his claims that the money was from an innocent source and not drug-related," Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kotz wrote in a March 30 court memorandum.
Speaking generally, a DEA supervisor said in a telephone interview that agents on train detail do not take into account a person's race or ethnicity.
"We do not ever look at people by their race or things of that nature," said Steve Derr, assistant agent in charge of the DEA in New Mexico. "I do not know what was used for this individual, but it has nothing to do with ethnic background."
Kotz wrote in court documents that Thach matched several characteristics of a drug-courier profile.
He bought a one-way ticket shortly before departure and paid $702 in cash. Kotz noted the name on the ticket, "Sammy Tsach," didn't match either of Thach's two names, and he was carrying a large amount of cash in a new backpack "with no receipt or credible explanation for the cash source or purpose."
Kotz also noted that the money was bundled in $1,000 increments — "all similarly taped or stapled at the corners."
Thach was also traveling from a known drug source area — Los Angeles — and was carrying a cell phone, Kotz wrote.
Thach told the agent he had won the money gambling at casinos but gave inconsistent answers, Kotz noted.
A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to smell the money but did not "alert" or detect an odor of drugs. A second dog, however, did alert to the money, court records said.
In February, Adrian filed a motion saying her client did not willfully give consent and that a person's anxiety cannot be used to bolster probable cause. She said Thach's use of English is limited, which the government disputes.
Adrian said her client is not involved in criminal activity and the reason the second dog sniffed drugs on the money might be due to contamination of cash in general.
Adrian points to an article in the Kentucky Law Journal in 1997, which cited studies that argue a canine's alert to cash should not routinely be given evidentiary value or used to bolster reasonable suspicion for search or seizure. The reason, researchers concluded, is that most of the cash in the United States has detectable traces of cocaine.
No trial date has been scheduled on Thach's petition to recover the money.
By Guillermo Contreras
Journal Staff Writer
On Hoang Thach is either a lucky gambler or a drug-courier whose luck ran out.
Federal drug agents are gambling on the latter: They seized $148,000 from Thach, 26, last year on an Amtrak train in Albuquerque.
The government wants to keep the cash. Federal prosecutors say agents had reason to search Thach's roomette and belongings and that he hasn't come up with a credible explanation for where he got the money.
Thach, a Vietnamese immigrant who settled in the Boston area 10 years ago, claims he was returning from a wedding in California when the money was confiscated in February 2000.
Thach had $149,000 in a backpack. Federal agents took $148,000 and gave him a receipt, letting him keep $1,000 to continue his trip.
No drugs were found, and Thach has not been charged with a crime.
His attorney, D. Penni Adrian of Albuquerque, contends a Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer identified her client from a passenger manifest he obtained from Amtrak.
Adrian said Thach was targeted because he was a minority, was traveling alone, had paid for his one-way ticket in cash and left no call-back number when the ticket was reserved.
"All they knew is he was a minority who paid cash for his ticket," Adrian said in an interview.
Court records say Thach told agents he won the money gambling at casinos in Los Angeles, Boston and Connecticut and that some came from his job at a company that makes nails.
The government says agents established reasonable suspicion to search Thach's belongings because he had several characteristics that likened him to a drug courier and because he was evasive or contradictory in answers about his travel plans.
The government also contends he gave consent for a search and even helped an agent take the money out of a backpack. He then gave inconsistent answers about where he got the cash, the government says.
In a court document, a prosecutor said further investigation shows Thach won no more than $25,000 from casinos where he reported gambling. And Thach, the government said, grosses $800 to $1,000 a week at his job.
"In short, the government has furthered its support that Thach's claims of a legitimate income are not credible, and Thach has provided no proof of a legitimate source or purpose that would support his claims that the money was from an innocent source and not drug-related," Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kotz wrote in a March 30 court memorandum.
Speaking generally, a DEA supervisor said in a telephone interview that agents on train detail do not take into account a person's race or ethnicity.
"We do not ever look at people by their race or things of that nature," said Steve Derr, assistant agent in charge of the DEA in New Mexico. "I do not know what was used for this individual, but it has nothing to do with ethnic background."
Kotz wrote in court documents that Thach matched several characteristics of a drug-courier profile.
He bought a one-way ticket shortly before departure and paid $702 in cash. Kotz noted the name on the ticket, "Sammy Tsach," didn't match either of Thach's two names, and he was carrying a large amount of cash in a new backpack "with no receipt or credible explanation for the cash source or purpose."
Kotz also noted that the money was bundled in $1,000 increments — "all similarly taped or stapled at the corners."
Thach was also traveling from a known drug source area — Los Angeles — and was carrying a cell phone, Kotz wrote.
Thach told the agent he had won the money gambling at casinos but gave inconsistent answers, Kotz noted.
A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to smell the money but did not "alert" or detect an odor of drugs. A second dog, however, did alert to the money, court records said.
In February, Adrian filed a motion saying her client did not willfully give consent and that a person's anxiety cannot be used to bolster probable cause. She said Thach's use of English is limited, which the government disputes.
Adrian said her client is not involved in criminal activity and the reason the second dog sniffed drugs on the money might be due to contamination of cash in general.
Adrian points to an article in the Kentucky Law Journal in 1997, which cited studies that argue a canine's alert to cash should not routinely be given evidentiary value or used to bolster reasonable suspicion for search or seizure. The reason, researchers concluded, is that most of the cash in the United States has detectable traces of cocaine.
No trial date has been scheduled on Thach's petition to recover the money.
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