19 USC 1595 – Searches and seizures
(a) Warrant
(1) If any officer or person authorized to make searches and seizures has probable cause to believe that—
(A) any merchandise upon which the duties have not been paid, or which has been otherwise brought into the United States unlawfully;
(B) any property which is subject to forfeiture under any provision of law enforced or administered by the United States Customs Service; or
(C) any document, container, wrapping, or other article which is evidence of a violation of section 1592 of this title involving fraud or of any other law enforced or administered by the United States Customs Service,
is in any dwelling house, store, or other building or place, he may make application, under oath, to any justice of the peace, to any municipal, county, State, or Federal judge, or to any Federal magistrate judge, and shall thereupon be entitled to a warrant to enter such dwelling house in the daytime only, or such store or other place at night or by day, and to search for and seize such merchandise or other article described in the warrant.
Terms Used In 19 USC 1595
- county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
- day: means the time from eight o'clock antemeridian to five o'clock postmeridian. See 19 USC 1401
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- merchandise: means goods, wares, and chattels of every description, and includes merchandise the importation of which is prohibited, and monetary instruments as defined in section 5312 of title 31. See 19 USC 1401
- night: means the time from five o'clock postmeridian to eight o'clock antemeridian. See 19 USC 1401
- officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
- person: includes partnerships, associations, and corporations. See 19 USC 1401
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
- United States: includes all Territories and possessions of the United States except the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake Island, Midway Islands, Kingman Reef, Johnston Island, and the island of Guam. See 19 USC 1401
(2) If any house, store, or other building or place, in which any merchandise or other article subject to forfeiture is found, is upon or within 10 feet of the boundary line between the United States and a foreign country, such portion thereof that is within the United States may be taken down or removed.
(b) Entry upon property of others
Any person authorized by this chapter to make searches and seizures, or any person assisting him or acting under his directions, may, if deemed necessary by him or them, enter into or upon or pass through the lands, inclosures, and buildings, other than the dwelling house, of any person whomsoever, in the discharge of his official duties.