§ 1613b. Customs Forfeiture Fund
(a)
In general
(1)
There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the “Customs Forfeiture Fund” (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Fund”), which shall be available to the United States Customs Service, subject to appropriation, with respect to seizures and forfeitures by the United States Customs Service and the United States Coast Guard under any law enforced or administered by those agencies for payment, or for reimbursement to the appropriation from which payment was made, for—
(A)
all proper expenses of the seizure (including investigative costs incurred by the United States Customs Service leading to seizures) or the proceedings of forfeiture and sale, including, but not limited to, the expenses of inventory, security, and maintenance of custody of the property, advertisement and sale of the property, and if condemned by the court and a bond for such costs was not given, the costs as taxed by the court;
(C)
satisfaction of—
(2)
(3)
In addition to the purposes described in paragraph (1), the Fund shall be available for—
(B)
equipment for any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft available for official use by the United States Customs Service to enable the vessel, vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforcement functions;
(C)
the reimbursement, at the discretion of the Secretary, of private persons for expenses incurred by such persons in cooperating with the United States Customs Service in investigations and undercover law enforcement operations;
(E)
equipment for any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft available for official use by a State or local law enforcement agency to enable the vessel, vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforcement functions if the conveyance will be used in joint law enforcement operations with the United States Customs Service; and
(b)
United States Coast Guard
The Commissioner of Customs shall make available to the United States Coast Guard, from funds appropriated under subsection (f)(2) of this section in excess of $10,000,000 for a fiscal year, proceeds in the Fund derived from seizures by the Coast Guard. Funds made available under this subsection may be used for—
(1)
equipment for any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft available for official use by the United States Coast Guard to enable the vessel, vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforcement functions;
(2)
equipment for any vessel, vehicle, equipment, or aircraft available for official use by a State or local law enforcement agency to enable the vessel, vehicle, or aircraft to assist in law enforcement functions if the conveyance will be used in joint law enforcement operations with the United States Coast Guard;
(c)
Deposits
There shall be deposited into the Fund all forfeited currency and proceeds from forfeiture under any law enforced or administered by the United States Customs Service or the United States Coast Guard and all income from investments made under subsection (d) of this section.
(d)
Investment
Amounts in the Fund which are not currently needed for the purposes of this section shall be invested in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States.
(e)
Annual reports; audits
(1)
The Commissioner of Customs shall transmit to the Congress, by no later than February 1 of each fiscal year the following detailed reports:
(A)
a report on—
(B)
a report on—
(ii)
liens and mortgages paid and amount of money shared with State and local law enforcement agencies during the previous fiscal year;
(C)
a report containing, for the previous fiscal year—
(i)
a complete set of audited financial statements (including a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow analysis) prepared in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Comptroller General, and
(f)
Authorization of appropriations
(1)
There are hereby appropriated from the Fund such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this section.