DEA Asset Seizure
At San Diego Defenders – Forfeiture Law Firm, we specialize in DEA forfeiture cases and help clients get their seized assets back. Our priority is to do this as quickly and inexpensively as possible for our customers.
If you’ve had cash or other personal property seized by the DEA, here are some answers to top general questions:
What is the DEA?
The DEA is shorthand for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DEA’s mission is to enforce U.S. laws and regulations concerning controlled substances. They focus on targeting large organizations and their members, who are “involved in the growing, manufacture, or distribution of controlled substances appearing in or destined for illicit traffic in the United States”.
Overall, they seek to reduce the amount of illegal substances sold on the market, both at home and abroad.
What assets can the DEA seize, and when?
Assets the DEA can seize include, but are not limited to, cars, cash, and real estate. They seize any object of value that they suspect has been used in association with a drug crime or has potentially been bought with drug money.
The DEA uses civil and criminal asset forfeiture as a strategy “to attack the financial structure of drug trafficking and money laundering groups worldwide, from the lowly courier carrying cash or drugs to the top levels of drug cartels.” This leads to our following questions: Why can the DEA seize property, and why do they do so?
Why can the DEA seize property, and why do they do so?
The DEA holds the ability to seize people’s property under probable cause and with a warrant from a judge because Congress has granted them the power to do so.
The rationale the DEA provides is that by pursuing asset forfeiture, they are taking the profit of crime away, removing instrumentalities of crime, deterring crime, aiding in dismantling drug trafficking and money laundering groups, weakening criminal enterprises, and punishing criminals.
Where does the DEA normally seize items?
Based on our past record, we have seen the DEA seize assets from our clients in numerous places, such as airports, at their homes, and while driving on the roads.
Even if you are stopped by a local police department or TSA at the airport, they can still forward your case to the DEA.
How can a DEA asset forfeiture attorney help me get my stuff back?
To get your seized car, cash, or other property back from the DEA, the options you are given are to either file a petition or claim.
An asset forfeiture attorney can represent you and file a claim on your behalf to directly negotiate with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
We generally warn against filing a petition on your own since there is no time limit for the DEA to make a decision. This means it could take months before they deny your petition.
Asset owners also tend to write things in the Petition that make it easier for the DEA to forfeit your property after you submit it under penalty of perjury. There are no takebacks allowed!
Speak to a trustworthy, experienced DEA asset seizure attorney today! We are San Diego Defenders – Forfeiture Law Firm, and we offer free, confidential consultations.
Although we are located in San Diego County here in Chula Vista, California, we can help you with any property in any of the 50 states!
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