If this couple had any amount of cash on them, it would have been confiscated as "drug money". Good luck getting it back, even in the absence of any evidence. That's why these tactics are tolerated, it's a source of income for the department. Who cares if a few innocent out-of-staters are taken advantage of?
The whole situation just makes me sick, and I'm continually surprised that it hasn't been ruled unconstitutional.