On Tuesday, the sheriff’s department of Muskogee County in Oklahoma were forced to return $53,000 that they had seized from a Christian band from Burma, an orphanage in Thailand and a Christian church located in Omaha. After the story was widely published, especially by The Washington Post, police and prosecutors in Muskogee County were overwhelmed with bad publicity and outrage voiced by citizens from all over Oklahoma and the rest of the country.
Muskogee County stated that the money was taken due to drug activity but the district attorney, Orvil Loge decided to drop the charges against Burmese native, Eh Wah, stating that they didn’t think they had enough evidence to proceed on the drug charges brought forth by the deputies in the case.
Eh Wah manages a Christian rock band from Burma who is currently touring America in an effort to raise money for a school in Burma and an orphanage in Thailand. The Muskogee County deputies pulled his car over for an alleged broken tail light when, after setting drug sniffing dogs on his car, found the $53,000 that he and the band had raise so far on their tour. The cops, of course, by their own admission, suspected “drug activity” and promptly arrested him and took his money. The cops charged him with a drug felony despite the fact that they found no drugs or other paraphernalia in his vehicle.
People were outraged and the district attorney was forced to back off making some excuse about a lack of evidence to proceed with a potential felony conviction which would have meant serious prison time for young Wah. If not for the public outrage, and the power of The Washington Post and other publications, Wah would likely be sitting in jail and the cops would still have his cash.
Wah said, “I’m happy and relieved. But I think it will take me some time to get back to my normal life. It still bothers me even though it’s over.”
Since 9/11, this type of police behavior had become more common. It is called “Highway Interdiction”. This term refers to the seizing of property and money at traffic stops whether there is evidence of a crime or even probable cause to suspect a crime. The cops just take everything and then people must spend countless amounts of both time and money to try and get their money and belongings back from the police. Some people never do.
PHOTO SOURCES: The Washington Post, The Christian Post