LAS VEGAS, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Authorities say a Canadian man is using the U.S. court system to try to claim nearly $1 million in cash that police allege is drug money.
Michael Simhard of British Columbia was stopped by police last August traveling southbound on Interstate 15 outside Las Vegas, The Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday.
The Nevada Highway Patrol watches that stretch of highway closely for drugs coming north from Mexico and drug money going south back into Mexico, the Sun reported.
In that area, law enforcement authorities annually make 10 to 15 seizures of large amounts of cash from cars they stop. Simhard's trunk contained $999,830, the Sun reported.
Police seized the cash but released Simhard after he wrote this voluntary statement: "Bags aren't mine. Money isn't mine."
Simhard, who could not be reached for comment, has not been charged but now has filed a claim to the money in federal court in Nevada. The U.S. attorney's office, however, has moved to keep the cash, claiming it is "traceable to exchanges of controlled substances," the Sun reported.
