Bear in mind that physical cash is somehow able to be charged with crimes, thus enabling police theft via civil asset forfeiture. Even when the police had no reason to suspect there was any cash on people in the first place.
So it doesn't seem like much of a step to "the evidence was screaming to us from inside, begging to be found". It's about the same level of nonsense. ;)
Civil asset forfeiture is problematic and has been abused but it's completely separate from criminal evidence rules. The physical cash is never charged with a crime. Instead the government files a civil (not criminal) case alleging that the cash is the result of criminal activity. The burden of proof then is much lower than in a criminal trial, and often the plaintiff wins a default judgement.
So it doesn't seem like much of a step to "the evidence was screaming to us from inside, begging to be found". It's about the same level of nonsense. ;)