19 U.S.C. § 1603 | Seizure; warrants and reports

(a)

section 1595 of this title Any property which is subject to forfeiture to the United States for violation of the customs laws and which is not subject to search and seizure in accordance with the provisions of , may be seized by the appropriate officer or person upon process issued in the same manner as provided for a search warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This authority is in addition to any seizure authority otherwise provided by law.

(b)

Whenever a seizure of merchandise for violation of the customs laws is made, or a violation of the customs laws is discovered, and legal proceedings by the United States attorney in connection with such seizure or discovery are required, it shall be the duty of the appropriate customs officer to report promptly such seizure or violation to the United States attorney for the district in which such violation has occurred, or in which such seizure was made, and to include in such report a statement of all the facts and circumstances of the case within his knowledge, with the names of the witnesses and a citation to the statute or statutes believed to have been violated, and on which reliance may be had for forfeiture or conviction.

June 17, 1930, ch. 497 46 Stat. 754 June 25, 1938, ch. 679, § 27 52 Stat. 1089 Pub. L. 91–271, title III, § 301(aa)June 2, 197084 Stat. 291 Pub. L. 95–410, title I, § 110(b)Oct. 3, 197892 Stat. 896 Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7365Nov. 18, 1988102 Stat. 4478(, title IV, § 603, ; , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, referred to in subsec. (a), are set out in the Appendix to Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Prior Provisions

act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 603 42 Stat. 984June 17, 1930Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in , . That section was superseded by section 603 of act , comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.

act Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 1 19 Stat. 247 act June 22, 1874, ch. 391, § 15 18 Stat. 189 act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV 42 Stat. 989A prior provision requiring the collector or other person causing a seizure to be made to give information thereof to the Solicitor of the Treasury, was contained in R.S. § 3083, as amended by , . R.S. § 3084 required collectors to report to the district attorney of the district in which any fine, penalty, or forfeiture might be incurred, a statement of all the facts and circumstances. Officers of customs detecting violations of the customs laws were required to report to the collectors, and the latter were required to report to the district attorneys, by , . All of these sections were repealed by , §§ 642, 643, .

Amendments

Pub. L. 100–690, § 73651988—, substituted “Seizure; warrants and reports” for “Seizure; customs officer’s reports” in section catchline, added subsec. (a), and designated existing provisions as subsec. (b).

Pub. L. 95–4101978— inserted “promptly” after “to report”.

Pub. L. 91–2711970— substituted reference to appropriate customs officer for reference to collector or principal local officer of Customs Agency Service.

June 25, 19381938—Act , amended section generally.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1970 Amendment

Pub. L. 91–271 section 203 of Pub. L. 91–271 section 1500 of this titleFor effective date of amendment by , see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1938 Amendment

June 25, 1938June 25, 1938June 25, 1938section 1401 of this titleAmendment by act , effective on thirtieth day following , except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 37 of act , set out as a note under .

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

July 31, 195064 Stat. 1280Functions of all other officers of Department of the Treasury and functions of all agencies and employees of such Department transferred, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Treasury, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or performance of any of his functions, by any of such officers, agencies, and employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 26 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. , 15 F.R. 4935, , 1281, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Customs Service was under Department of the Treasury.