DUIU.S. Supreme Court Upholds Forefiture Ruling
WASHINGTON, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Supreme Court's 8-1 decision yesterday to uphold current asset forfeiture laws leave many people asking the question: "So, what happens to all those seized and forfeited assets, anyway?" The answer is simple: government auctions. Two upcoming government auctions provide insight of the law in action:
1) This Friday, June 28, at "high noon, " the U.S. Customs Service will auction the magnificent 407-acre "Top Gun Ranch" in Whitefish, Montana, which the agency seized in October 1990. The ranch was seized from Jimmie Norjay Ellard, a notorious drug smuggler for the late Pablo Escobar of the Medellin cartel, who oversaw one of the largest smuggling operations ever investigated by the Customs Service. Between 1985 and 1990, his organization flew 27.5 tons of cocaine from Colombia into southern Florida. Code named Operation Caballero (Operation Cowboy), the Customs Service's five-year investigation of the Ellard organization began in 1989. It resulted in the arrest and conviction of Ellard and several others, and the seizure of the Montana ranch, which Ellard used as a respite in between smuggling runs. The Ellard case led Customs and other federal agencies to arrest and convict other key members of the Medellin cartel in the early 1990s, including Pablo Escobar's number one hit man, Dandy Munoz-Mosquera.
Top Gun Ranch was part of $5.8 million worth of assets seized in Operation Caballero. Other assets include aircraft, vehicles, and other real estate properties in Colorado, Florida, and Texas. These items have been, or will be, disposed of separately.
2) On July 18 beginning at 9 a.m. in Edison, New Jersey, several U.S. Treasury agencies will auction several hundred lots of merchandise representing the booty of many criminal and civil asset forfeiture cases. The agencies involved will include the U.S. Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Office of Foreign Asset Control. A wide range of property will be offered for sale, including automobiles, furniture, electronics, jewelry, carpets, household goods, hardware, and much more.
This auction is expected to generate between $500,000 and $1 million, all of which will be deposited directly into the U.S. Treasury Asset Forfeiture Fund. Since 1990, auctions such as these have generated more than $115 million in net proceeds to the Department of the Treasury's asset forfeiture program.
The end result of asset forfeiture is simple: property purchased with illegally obtained monies is turned back into dollars via public auctions; these dollars are then used by federal law enforcement agencies to support crime fighting efforts, thereby offsetting taxpayers' costs. No doubt, these auctions are a better source of revenue than more taxes.
Common types of illegal activities which seizures and forfeitures result from include drug smuggling, money laundering, and fraud schemes. EG&G Dynatrend of Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Larry Latham Auctioneers of Indianapolis, Indiana, conduct auctions throughout the U.S and Puerto Rico for Department of the Treasury agencies and offices.
The public can obtain more information about the U.S. Treasury Auction Program by calling the Public Auction Line at 703-273-3441, or via the Internet at www.ustreas.gov.
DIRECTIONS TO JUNE 28, 12:00 NOON AUCTION: From Central Street in Whitefish, go 11.4 miles on Highway 93 west to Farm to Market Road just past mile marker 139. Turn left, go 1.6 miles to Star Meadows Road, turn right, travel 11 miles to Top Gun Ranch (enter at Caretakers Complex on your left). It will be just past mile marker 539.
-0- 6/25/96 /CONTACT: Kristi Messner of the U.S. Customs
Service Support Division, 703-273-3441/
CO: U.S. Customs Service Support Division ST: District of Columbia,
Montana
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