Title 19, Customs DutiesRelease 119-102
§1605 Seizure; Custody; Storage
Title 19 › CHAPTER 4 — TARIFF ACT OF 1930 › SUBTITLE III — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Part V — Enforcement Provisions › § 1605
Summary
Seized ships, cars, planes, goods, and luggage must be kept by the customs officer for the district where they were taken until a court or the law decides what will happen to them. While they wait, the officer can store the items where it is most practical and cost‑effective, even if that place is outside the judicial or customs district where they were seized, and doing so does not change which court has authority over them.
Full Legal Text
Title 19, §1605
Customs Duties, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
All vessels, vehicles, aircraft, merchandise, and baggage seized under the provisions of the customs laws, or laws relating to the navigation, registering, enrolling or licensing, or entry or clearance, of vessels, unless otherwise provided by law, shall be placed and remain in the custody of the appropriate customs officer for the district in which the seizure was made to await disposition according to law. Pending such disposition, the property shall be stored in such place as, in the customs officer’s opinion, is most convenient and appropriate with due regard to the expense involved, whether or not the place of storage is within the judicial district or the customs collection district in which the property was seized; and storage of the property outside the judicial district or customs collection district in which it was seized shall in no way affect the jurisdiction of the court which would otherwise have jurisdiction over such property.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 605, 42 Stat. 985. That section was superseded by section 605 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act. Provisions substantially similar to those in this section so far as it relates to merchandise or property seized under the customs laws, were contained in R.S. § 3086, prior to repeal by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, § 642, 42 Stat. 989.
Amendments
1984—Pub. L. 98–573 and Pub. L. 98–473 inserted reference to aircraft in first par. 1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted references to appropriate customs officer or customs officer for references to collector wherever appearing. 1954—Act Sept. 1, 1954, permitted collector of seized property to store it in such places as he considers convenient or appropriate, whether within or without the judicial district in which it was seized, without affecting the jurisdiction of the court over such property.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–573 effective Oct. 15, 1984, see section 214(e) of Pub. L. 98–573, set out as a note under section 1304 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1970 AmendmentFor
Effective Date
of amendment by Pub. L. 91–271, see section 203 of Pub. L. 91–271, set out as a note under section 1500 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
19 U.S.C. § 1605
Title 19, Customs Duties
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102