It’s one thing to get arrested and taken to jail. It’s quite another to bond out only to find the police have confiscated your truck, your house, your boat and have no plans on giving them back. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? If they think you’ve purchased your property with drug money, they can take your stuff away in many states. There are two ways this can happen:

1. You were driving the truck when you were pulled over and arrested.
2. They believe they have evidence that the truck, your house, the boat or other possession, were purchased with drug money.

Drug Abuse Resistance Program (D.A.R.E.) is a drug awareness program taught in elementary and middle schools nationwide. The program instructor is usually a local police officer trained to teach drug awareness. Seized assets are sold for money to fund the program cost including the officer’s salary and program workbooks. Once your assets have been seized, it’s then up to you to show them they are wrong. For example, you are found guilty of a drug charge, but the truck was purchased through a loan from the bank. You need to provide evidence of that loan. If your mother lent you the cash, get a record of the cash withdrawal from her account the day she lent it to you. The same goes for your house. If you had to take out a mortgage, submit the proof. Show a paper trail as to where the down payment came from. Being found guilty of a drug crime does not give authorities automatic rights to your assets. If you can show that the assets in question were purchased with honest money, the court must return them to you. In addition, if you share the asset title with an innocent party who is not charged with a drug crime, that person has a vested interest in it and can argue against it being seized permanently. Final thoughts: Once the assets are seized, they are held not only until your conviction, but also for a mandated time afterwards to give the court time to process them properly. File for their return right away, as it takes time to get the matter heard and you will meet resistance from the agency that laid claim to them. You might be interested in: U.S. Marshall Service Asset Forfeiture Program 3000 Pound Drug Bust video