Justice Manual § 9-118.200

The Asset Forfeiture Program (the Program) has four primary goals:

To punish and deter criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used in or acquired through illegal activities.

To promote and enhance cooperation among federal, state, local, tribal, and foreign law enforcement agencies.

To recover assets that may be used to compensate victims when authorized under federal law.

To ensure the Program is administered professionally, lawfully, and in a manner consistent with sound public policy.

To achieve these goals the Department of Justice should use asset forfeiture to the fullest extent possible to investigate, identify, seize, and forfeit the assets of criminals and their organizations while ensuring that due process rights of all property owners are protected. Asset forfeiture plays a critical role in disrupting and dismantling illegal enterprises, depriving criminals of the proceeds of illegal activity, deterring crime, and restoring property to victims.

The effective use of both criminal and civil asset forfeiture is an essential component of the Department of Justice’s efforts to combat the most sophisticated criminal actors and organizations—including terrorist financiers, cyber criminals, fraudsters, human traffickers, and transnational drug cartels.