---
kind: "section"
citation: "19 U.S.C. § 1705"
title: "19"
title_heading: "Customs Duties"
number: "1705"
heading: "Destruction of forfeited vessel or vehicle"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/19/1705"
units:
  - "Chapter 5 — Smuggling"
---

# §1705. Destruction of forfeited vessel or vehicle


Any vessel or vehicle forfeited to the [United States](/usc/19/1709.md?p=a), whether summarily or by a decree of any court, for violation of any law respecting the revenue, may, in the discretion of the [Secretary](/usc/19/1681.md?p=1) of the Treasury, if he deems it necessary to protect the revenue of the [United States](/usc/19/1709.md?p=a), be destroyed in lieu of the sale thereof under existing law.


## Source credit

(Aug. 5, 1935, ch. 438, title I, § 5, 49 Stat. 519.)