The Nova Scotia government wants $34,895 in cash discovered by police during a large seizure of cigarettes turned over to the province, but one of the men arrested in the contraband tobacco case is indicating he's willing to fight in court to get his money back.

Samuel Peter Blakeley, 42, was one of two people charged with tobacco offences in May 2023 after RCMP pulled over a pickup truck on Highway 104 in Antigonish County and found what police say were 150,000 illegal cigarettes packed in boxes in the back.

The tobacco charges against the men were later withdrawn, but the province is still seeking to have the large sum of cash found during the roadside stop forfeited as proceeds of crime under the Civil Forfeiture Act.

Blakeley appeared by phone this week in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax and suggested all the money at stake was his.

"This is a matter of me getting my money back," he said.

Under Nova Scotia's forfeiture law, it's still possible for a judge to find there was unlawful activity and order the forfeiture of property even if the person was acquitted, the charges withdrawn or there were no charges laid at all.

A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service of Nova Scotia said the charges against Blakeley and a second man, Mihai Valentin Stoicheci, 55, were withdrawn because "there was no realistic prospect of conviction."

Blakeley did not respond to an interview request sent by email. He did not indicate in court why he was travelling with a large amount of cash.

According to court filings, the cash included dozens of $100 bills, along with $50, $20 and $5 denominations. It is currently being held by RCMP.

An affidavit from the RCMP officer who pulled the pickup truck over in 2023 said his search of a police database indicated that Blakeley was allegedly a suspect in a number of contraband tobacco cases.

The search also indicated Stoicheci had a record for fraud and drug offences. The court heard this week that Stoicheci may now be in Romania.

The case returns to court in April.