Pike County officials say ten thousand dollars in suspected drug money seized during a March search in Winslow has been forfeited.

Nearly twenty thousand dollars in cash was originally seized, but the court found probable cause that ten thousand was tied to drug sales. The defendant agreed to forfeit that amount, and the remaining money will be returned.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Logan Tedrow says civil forfeiture is a “complex but useful tool to keep illegal proceeds out of the hands of offenders.”

Over five thousand dollars from the forfeiture will support the Pike County Sheriff’s Department’s canine fund and drug task force. About three thousand will go to the prosecutor’s office fund, and the rest to the common school fund.

The defendant’s name is not being released because they were a minor at the time.