The practice includes DEA special agents or task force officers approaching individuals at airports and then asking for consent to search the individual’s belongings.
The DOJ’s move comes four years after Scripps News Tampa Investigative Reporter Kylie McGivern highlighted the practice of civil asset forfeiture at airports by the DEA.
Civil asset forfeiture allows federal agencies to seize cash and other property suspected of being involved in a crime, even if charges are never filed against the owner.
The Institute for Justice called the move a “pretty significant change.”
“It means that air travelers across the United States, at all domestic airports, will not be subjected to these ‘consensual encounter’ interrogations by DEA,” said Dan Alban, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice.
Next time it will be everyone with a car, then a bike, then food. No problem, only rich people, right?