19 U.S.C. § 1602
Section 1602 · Seizure; report to customs officer
This is the Tariff Act of 1930
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 77 court decisions — leading case United States v. Thirty-Seven (37) Photographs (1971)
Most recently applied in United States v. Goodchild (November 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It shall be the duty of any officer, agent, or other person authorized by law to make seizures of merchandise or baggage subject to seizure for violation of the customs laws, to report every such seizure immediately to the appropriate customs officer for the district in which such violation occurred, and to turn over and deliver to such customs officer any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage seized by him, and to report immediately to such customs officer every violation of the customs laws.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The customs laws, referred to in text, are classified generally to this title.
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those of this section were contained in act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §602, 42 Stat. 984. That section was superseded by section 602 of act June 17, 1930, comprising this section, and repealed by section 651(a)(1) of the 1930 act.
Prior provisions requiring officers or persons employed in the customs revenue service, upon detection of any violation of the customs laws, to make complaint to the collector, were contained in act June 22, 1874, ch. 391, §15, 18 Stat. 189, prior to repeal by act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 356, title IV, §643, 42 Stat. 989.
Amendments
1984—Pub. L. 98–573 and Pub. L. 98–473 inserted reference to aircraft.
1970—Pub. L. 91–271 substituted references to appropriate customs officer or such customs officer for references to collector wherever appearing.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment 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 Amendment
For 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.