Millan Couvertier v. Gil Bonar

TORRUELLA, Chief Judge.

In this action, plaintiffs-appellants seek the recovery of $45,828 plus interest in prized lottery tickets — winning tickets — of the lottery of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that were seized by United States Customs Service officials from appellant Sixto Millán Couvertier pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 1305, upon his arrival in San Juan from the U.S. Virgin Islands (“U.S.V.I.”). Section 1305 prohibits the importation of lottery tickets into the United States from a foreign country.

Plaintiffs-appellants’ argument is twofold: (1) that the U.S.V.I. is not a foreign country for…