DEA agents often had to return money seized in 'cold-consent encounters'

Drug Enforcement Agency officials often had to return some or all of the money they seized from people they stopped in transit hubs like airports and train stations in hundreds of contested cases.

In a process known as “cold-consent encounters,” DEA agents can approach a person “based on no particular behavior” and question or even search the individual if he or she agrees on the spot, according to the Department of Justice inspector general in a report ripping the practice for its lack of oversight.