Conversion of Administrative Forfeitures Covered by the Customs Carve-Out in CAFRA to Judicial Forfeitures

There are times when an administrative forfeiture is commenced under Title 19, but the ensuing judicial forfeiture is brought under another statute. Title 19 forfeitures are exempt from the provisions of CAFRA, whereas most other forfeitures are not. The reforms enacted by CAFRA are applicable to all civil forfeitures taken under any provision of federal law except for those specifically exempted by 18 U.S.C. § 983(i). Forfeitures to which the provisions of CAFRA are not applicable include, inter alia, forfeitures under Title 19 that are enforced by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (formerly components of the U.S. Customs Service). In instances where CBP (on its own, or on behalf of ICE) commences an administrative forfeiture action under Title 19 and the U.S. Attorney subsequently files a civil judicial forfeiture action under a non-Title 19 statute, the U.S. Attorney should comply with all CAFRA deadlines, including the 90-day filing deadline under section 983(a)(3), and CBP should return the cost bond. For additional information on this topic see Chapter 2 of the Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual ("Conversion of administrative forfeitures covered by the Customs carve-out to judicial forfeitures covered by CAFRA").

[new May 2010]