Facts
The appellant [A.] entered Switzerland as a passenger in a passenger vehicle at the Thayngen (SH) border crossing on June 21, 2017, in possession of two bundles of cash (totaling CHF 10,960.--, EUR 4,870.--, USD 3,620.-- and RSD 7,290.--). The cash was seized as an investigation with an ion mobility spectrometer revealed that parts of the cash were contaminated with cocaine. The Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen discontinued the criminal proceedings against [A.] on suspicion of a violation of the Narcotics Act and confiscated the seized amounts of money. [A.] appealed against the confiscation of the cash amounts.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court sets aside the decision of the High Court of the Canton of Schaffhausen and remands the case for a new assessment to the lower court. The mere cocaine contamination of the banknotes is not sufficient to prove the illicit origin of the cash from drug trafficking. Further indications are required to prove the illicit origin, such as the lack of a plausible explanation for a legal acquisition. In the present case, the…