Thats exactly what they do. Its bullshit and completely racist. Detroit cops racial profile like a mother fucker.
It really just depends on the cop and how you handle the situation though. You can get lucky sometimes if you're honest with the cops and tell them flat out that you were there looking for dope. Sometimes they'll just write you a ticket for loitering in a high traffic drug area or let you off with a warning. Detroit narcos can be pretty cool if your straight up with them and generally they could care less about rigs and paraphernalia. If you bullshit them though, they can pretty much do whatever they want and seize your car for absolutely no reason because apparently in Detroit being white and in the hood is adequate cause to take your car and arrest you.
The fine is supposed to double the second time and the third time they can auction your car off. I've also heard of people having to pay blue book value to get their car back the first time its seized.
Detroit is fucked up because not only do you have to watch out for DPD, narcos and feds but suburban cops are allowed to do surveillance in areas that are frequented by a lot of suburban teenagers. And they can patrol anywhere up to two miles within the city limits, so that would 7 mile.
Technically heroin possession in Detroit is a civil infraction so they will sieze your car and give you a misdemeanor, sometimes just a ticket, but they can give you a felony if they want to. If its the feds or suburban cops its always a felony, though. I knew a guy one time that got 2 years for having one pack and when he got out he got busted with 3 packs and got a ticket, haha.
I got caught up in a mult-jurisdictional sting a few years ago that was DPD, Comet, Oakland County, a bunch of suburban city departments and the DEA and even though I got flicked in Detroit it was Sterling Heights and Oakland that got me. It was a felony too. When they do those stings they can have a whole neighborhood or block indicted where alls they have to do is see you in a certain neighborhood or leaving a certain street and they can take your car and lock you up. Usually that only happens after a rash of OD's or something big happening. Something like that could be going down right now though being that those two kids were found executed a few weeks ago.
People think I'm paranoid, but I'm always on full alert when I cop, I'm always checking my mirrors when I'm parked, watching cars that are coming and going and if something doesn't feel right I'll leave. I've dealt with DPD enough times to know which areas to avoid. I generally try to steer clear of the known mile roads and the known avenues, they're always hot and your more likely to have a random traffic stop in or around those areas. The dope boys are finally learning that too, cuz a lot of my spots that used to be in those real well known areas have moved to more quieter areas of the city.
Stay safe out there though. I'm more worried about cops than the stick up kids in Detroit and I always have been.
Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm nodding out and feeling pretty good right now, haha.