DEA Home Warrant Seizure

 

When the DEA has a warrant to search your home and seizes many of your most valuable possessions, it is an immensely distressing situation to be in.

When dealing with civil forfeiture, it’s important to note that the defendant in the case is the property, not you. This forfeiture process can happen without any criminal charges.

Here at San Diego Defenders—Forfeiture Law Firm, our priority is to fight to get your property back as quickly and inexpensively as possible when you face a DEA home warrant seizure.

Between Fiscal Years 2020 and 2023, the value of all the assets the DEA seized equals approximately $2 billion.

This leads to our top questions:

 

What assets can the DEA seize?

First and foremost, the DEA can seize assets such as cars, cash, real estate, and even cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.

They seize any object of value that they suspect has been used in association with a drug crime, money laundering, structuring or has potentially been bought with proceeds from a list of crimes delineated in the USC statute.

Under this logic, we have seen the DEA take our clients’ cash, watches, gold and silver bars, collectible gold and silver coins, vehicles, bank accounts, cryptocurrency, and more under 21 USC § 881 & 21 USC § 883.

Importantly, we have successfully returned these belongings to our clients!

Check out our recent results to see what property we have successfully negotiated for return to our clients!

The DEA uses civil and criminal asset forfeiture as a strategy to attack the financial structure of illegal activity, trafficking, and money laundering groups worldwide, from the lowly courier carrying cash or drugs to the top levels of drug cartels and sophisticated money laundering operations.

 

What Are the Types of Warrants the DEA Can Issue?

The DEA can issue two types of search warrants: a criminal search warrant and an administration inspection warrant.

Home search warrants fall under the criminal search warrant category, while administration inspection warrants are geared to ensure compliance with regulations.

Under 18 USC § 41, the criteria for a DEA criminal search warrant is that it needs to be signed by a federal judge under probable cause.

Per Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCRMP), the DEA must conduct these searches in the daytime, except for “good cause” for the nighttime, within a two-week time period, and warrants must be returned to the magistrate judge.

 

How Can a Lawyer Help Me With My DEA Home Warrant Seizure?

After the DEA searches your home with a warrant and takes your property or seizes accounts, they must send you a notice of property seizure within 60 days by law under 18 USC § 983.

Specifically, you will receive a letter from the DEA by certified mail titled “Notice of Seizure of Property and Initiation of Administrative Forfeiture Proceedings” in a civil asset forfeiture setting.

This letter outlines the options to get your property back.

An attorney can help you with the correct election of proceeding, which reads, “To contest the forfeiture of this property in the United States District Court, you must file a claim.”

Filing a claim ensures that your property is being negotiated over a finite amount of time and handled between two attorneys: the U.S. attorney from the government representing the DEA and the attorney you choose to retain.

It sounds intimidating, but claims give the DEA a limited number of days to respond, while petitions have no time limit to respond. Petitions offer you no opportunity to participate in due process under law.

Importantly, it is crucial not to wait until the last minute to file a claim.

The claim must be on the agency office’s desk in Virginia by 11:59 PM EST on the 35th day from the date printed on your letter.

We cannot prepare and mail a claim on the 35th day mark, as it will not arrive on time.

This will cause your cash, cars, watches, bars, coins, cryptocurrency, and any other property to be forfeited and forever lost to the federal government.

Don’t wait. Call our office today at (619) 258-8888 for a free, confidential consultation!

Se habla Español.

Attorney Dan Smith has over 35 years of experience in federal defense. 

San Diego Defenders – Forfeiture Law Firm can help you regain any property nationwide! 

We are located in Chula Vista, California, but we service clients from across the country in all 50 states, including Arizona, Texas, Washington, Florida, Vermont, Michigan, and more!