United States v. Five Hundred Thousand Dollars, Etc., Arturo Fernandez, Etc., Movant-Appellant

The government instituted forfeiture proceedings against five different sums of money that were allegedly used to facilitate or resulted from drug transactions. The sums were seized on November 9, 1981, and a notice of the action was published in the Miami Review on November 25, 1981. The only individual whom the government personally served was Rafael Ujueta, the person who deposited the money in a Miami bank. However, the Marshal’s Office returned the summons unexecuted and indicated that Ujueta had left the United States. After no one filed a claim to the money within thirty days, the…