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Mexico needs to rethink its seize and auction processes

The government has created a catalog that shows jewelry, airplanes, ships, and properties

In the last months, the federal government has auctioned luxury cars and properties formerly owned by criminals - Photo: Francisco Cañedo/Xinhua
21/07/2019 |08:27
Redacción El Universal
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One of the most frequent question among Mexicans is what happens to the fortunes and assets seized from criminals . The majority of these objects are luxurious, pretentious, tacky; nevertheless, these assets are worth large sums of money because of the brand, materials, and confection process. The government has created a catalog that shows all kinds of seized goods , includin g jewelry, airplanes, ships, properties , and land .

What people don't know is that selling seized goods can take up to 10 years because the government has to conclude the investigation it launched against a criminal, even if the criminals died when they were arrested. Furthermore, the Attorney General's Office is swarmed by cases, therefore, there are delays in the investigations required to close a case, thus, it takes longer to hand the assets to the Management Service and Property Disposal Department ( SAE ), the institution in charge of auctioning the seized goods and raising funds that are later used fo r construction projects, services, and social programs .

According to the available information in regards to the seized goods during the previous administration, only 2% of the assets have been handed over to the SAE . In this sense, it has been reported that in the last five years, out of 82,000 seized assets, only 1,416 have been handed over to be auctioned . Moreover, many assets don't follow this process because in some cases, goods such as vehicles are used by local governments or are claimed by the criminals' family .

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Therefore, the current legislation and legal processes in regards to seized goods have to be reviewed because it is unbelievable that assets seized from prominent criminals have to go through such a long process to be auctioned and obtain resources and allocate them to programs that will benefit Mexican society . It is evident that these delays are the reflection of Mexico's legal system and the voids that show that the processes need to be more efficient to close the cases against high-profile criminals . The Mexican governme nt has to rethink its seize and auction processes.

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