The county attorney’s office still contends Khaleq is involved in illicit activity, but he has not charged him with a crime.

Under Arizona law, authorities can seize assets without a conviction or even filing charges.

A Pinal County case in which a woman’s truck was seized after her son was arrested for stealing accessories for the truck is currently being argued in U.S. District Court. The woman was not charged with a crime, but authorities sold her truck, a fact her attorney said shows the unconstitutional nature of the state’s forfeiture laws.

Khaleq claimed in an Oct. 5 court filing that the money came from his legitimate businesses. The native Jordanian and U.S. citizen owns a convenience store, a laundromat and a check-cashing business in Denver, as well as a wholesale electronics distributorship in California.

He does not have a record of money laundering or drug trafficking offenses in Arizona or Colorado, according to online court records.

Khaleq says he traveled to Tucson to purchase a smoke shop on South 12th Avenue. The deal didn’t work out, and Khaleq was on his way home when the Drug Enforcement Administration agent approached him at the airport.