The dark, ominous-looking vehicle turned off Hwy. 306 and slowly rumbled through the shopping center parking lot.Its presence did not go unnoticed on that recent afternoon, as several bystanders stopped to gawk at the uncommon site.While that may be a natural reaction to such an intense vehicle, it’s the cost — not just armor and size of the 2010 Lenco Bearcat 2639 recently purchased by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office — that’s raising a few eyebrows.According to information obtained by the Forsyth County News through an open records request, the sheriff’s office bought the Bearcat last week for $235,688.A month earlier, the agency purchased a 2006 Meridian Mobile Command Center for $200,800.The documents show that the vehicles were paid for through federal seizure funds, the result of drug enforcement work over the years.“Both of these vehicles supplant our capabilities here and there’s absolutely no taxpayers’ dollars being used to provide either one of them,” Sheriff Ted Paxton said. “Drug dealers paid for them.”Paxton explained that law enforcement agencies are allowed to use drug seizure money for various purposes, including equipment, training and supplies. Agencies are not, however, permitted to use the funds to supplement their budgets, nor can they be used for salaries.“Drug seizure money is to be used to provide and buy extra things,” Paxton said.