Police Seize $19,000 Cash, Pound of Marijuana During Traffic Stop

Agents of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force seized more than $19,000 cash and a pound of marijuana last month during a traffic stop in Tuscaloosa, according to court documents filed Friday morning.

In a Fruits of Crime Forfeiture complaint filed Thursday, district attorneys said on February 26th, officers noticed unusual activity at a home on 8th Street in West Tuscaloosa.

Officers began to follow a Chevy Tahoe driven by 33-year-old Darius Lamar Moorer after he left the scene, and pulled him over after he reportedly failed to signal a turn.

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WANTF agents searched the vehicle and allegedly found a vaccum-sealed bag containing exactly a pound of marijuana as well as $19,163 cash.

Officers moved to arrest Moorer, who allegedly fled on foot but "immediately tripped on a curb and fell onto the sidewalk onto Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard."

Police were able to handcuff Moorer, who was reportedly removing Oxycodone pills from his pocket and trying to stomp on them.

According to the complaint, Moorer overheard WANTF agents talking about the huge amount of cash found in his vehicle and interjected to say he had just gotten a $20,000 loan from an area bank.

Shortly after, though, Moorer's mother arrived on the scene and told investigators that her son had legally won the money they found at a casino.

"Due to the defendant's criminal history and known involvements with narcotics, his inability to provide any documentation that the money was legitimate and the observation by agents of him conducting hand-to-hand transactions," agents seized the drugs and money.

Moorer was charged on the scene with first-degree possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance for the Oxycodone, failure to affix a tax stamp, tampering with physical evidence and resisting arrest.

He was placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail and was released on bond later the same day.

In cases of civil asset forfeiture, if a judge determines the seized money was made through criminal activity it will be distributed to government agencies, typically with 75 percent going to the Tuscaloosa Police Department and 25 percent to the district attorney's office.