You do not need to be charged of a crime to have property taken from you under civil asset forfeiture. It's possible to contest the forfeiture in court but that requires an expensive legal battle in a place you might not live (many of these occur on the highway), against a government with far more time and resources.

The money, at least a large cut of it, goes to the municipality that siezed the property. In some small towns this is abused to fund their city government.