U.S. Department
of Justice
Asset Forfeiture Section
National Security Section | Appellate Section | Asset Forfeiture Section | Major Crimes | OCDETF
The Assistant United States Attorneys in the Asset Forfeiture Section work closely with criminal prosecutors, federal agencies and state and local law enforcement to identify and forfeit the instrumentalities, profits and proceeds of criminal activity. The mission of the Asset Forfeiture Section is three-fold:
| Deter crime by depriving criminals of the financial benefit of illegal activity |
| Eliminate a criminal organization's financial ability to continue its illegal activity |
| Restore property to victims of criminal activity as permitted by law |
|
Assists the community by ridding neighborhoods of drug houses |
The Asset Forfeiture Section prosecutes civil and criminal forfeiture of ill-gotten gains derived from federal crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime, fraud, corruption, immigration violations and child exploitation. The Western District of Texas is consistently among the top districts in the United States in forfeiture recoveries which have included airplanes, cars, residences and cash.
Equitable sharing is an important feature of the federal forfeiture program. Equitable sharing permits forfeited property to be shared with state and local agencies assisting in the forfeiture. Through equitable sharing, forfeited funds are used to further certain state and local law enforcement efforts and programs.