Esta ley enmienda la "Ley Uniforme de Incautación de 1988" y la "Ley para la Protección de la Propiedad Vehicular" para permitir que vehículos incautados con números de identificación alterados o irrecuperables reciban un número de identificación de reemplazo y sean registrados. Estos vehículos pueden ser transferidos a la Policía de Puerto Rico y a las policías municipales para uso oficial, en lugar de ser destruidos. Se prohíbe la venta o transferencia de estos vehículos a terceros y se establecen sanciones para quienes infrinjan esta prohibición. También se crea un registro especial para estos vehículos y se tipifica como delito menor la posesión no autorizada de partes de vehículos con números de identificación de reemplazo.
(NO. 72) (Approved January 27, 2003)
To amend subsection
(e) of Section 15 of Act No. 93 of July 13, 1988, as amended, known as "Uniform Seizure Act of 1988", and to add a new Section 4-A and Section 21-A to Act No. 8 of August 5, 1987, as amended, known as the "Act for the Protection of Vehicular Property"; to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works to assign a replacement identification number and to establish the Special Register of Seized Vehicles with Replacement identification number for those motor vehicles and any other means of transportation which, after being seized, turn out to be illegal where the series or identification numbers can not be recovered and can be transferred to the Puerto Rico Police and to the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have a Municipal Police.
Act No. 93 of July 13, 1988, as amended, known as the "Uniform Seizure Act of 1988," acknowledges that the seizure of goods that propitiate the commission of a crime can be a dissuasive element for the criminal who, fearing the danger of losing his property, limits his criminal activity, or finds the commission of such acts more difficult. It provides, with a good sense of justice that such property can be used for the benefit of the society that was affected by the criminal activities. The same created, among other things, the Seizure Board whose function is to protect, control and dispose of the property acquired by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, through the seizure
proceeding. The same is empowered to establish the norms concerning the destruction of the property transferred to the State as a product of the seizure and turns out to be illegal.
According to Section 15 of the Act, property, including motor vehicles and any other illegal means of transportation, shall be destroyed without being used. This rule limits the capacity of our Government to avail itself of greater resources to be used to fight and diminish the criminal acts that occur daily in Puerto Rico, since it destroys those vehicles whose series or identification number is not recoverable, without the alternative of putting them to use.
On the other hand, federal law establishes that, if the identification number of a motor vehicle, or any of its parts, is removed, erased or altered, such property must be seized unless it is recorded with a replacement identification number, as provided by the laws of the states, (18 USC 512).
Through the approval of this measure, the assignment of a replacement identification number and a register of those motor vehicles and any other form of transportation, which after seizure have become illegal because their series or identification numbers can not be recovered because they have been erased, mutilated, altered, substituted, superimposed, unstuck, adapted or in any way modified, are authorized. In this way, the same can be transferred to the Police of Puerto Rico and to the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have a municipal police, strengthening the dissuasive element incorporated in the "Uniform Seizure Act of 1988" and letting the criminal know that tampering with that numeration triggers the transfer of these vehicles which eventually shall be used to fight crime.
Section 1.- Subsection
(e) of Section 15 of Act No. 93 of July 13, 1988, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "Section15.- Powers, attributes and duties The Board shall also have the following powers, attributes, and duties:
(a) $\ldots$
(b) $\ldots$
(c) $\ldots$
(d) $\ldots$
(e) To establish the norms for the destruction of property transferred to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as a result of seizures and which turn out to be illegal. Providing that vehicles and any other means of land transportation that do not have a series or identification number, because it has been erased, mutilated, altered, substituted, superimposed, un-stuck, adapted or in any way modified, but that could be useful to the Police of Puerto Rico, and to the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have a Municipal Police, shall receive a replacement identification number in a special register, for its official use, and according to the procedure's established in the Board's regulations in force. However, the municipalities shall only have the right to claim and to obtain from the Board rehabilitated vehicles to be used by the Municipal Police according to the rules of this subsection. However, the Board shall make available to the Municipal Police forty percent $(40 %)$ of the vehicles so rehabilitated each year and the remaining sixty percent ( $60 %$ ) to the Police of Puerto Rico.
When the vehicle or any other means of land transportation with replacement identification number transferred to the Puerto Rico Police or to
the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico having a Municipal Police, loses its utility, it shall be returned to the Board and destroyed according to the procedure that the latter establishes for such act in its regulations.
The sale, assignment, transfer or any other negotiation of said vehicles in favor of any other person, corporation, or agency, public or private, is prohibited. Any official who orders the sale, assignment, or transfer, or who sells, assigns or transfers said vehicles in a way inconsistent with the provisions of this Section shall be sanctioned with a fixed penalty of one (1) year and ten thousand $(10,000)$ dollars. He shall also be subject to liability for breach of Act No. 12 of July 24, 1985, as amended, known as the "Ethics in Government Act".
Section 2.- A new Section 4-A is added to Act No. 8 of August 5, 1987, as amended, to read as follows: "Section 4A.- Special Register for Seized Vehicles with Replacement Identification Number.
Without prejudice or detriment to the rules and obligations contained in other laws, the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works shall assign a replacement identification number and establish the Special Register of Seized Vehicles with a Replacement Identification Number for any vehicle or any other means of land transportation seized, which turns out be illegal, because its series or identification number, is not recoverable because it has been erased, mutilated, altered, substituted, superimposed, un-stuck, adapted or in any way modified, but that could be useful to the Police of Puerto Rico, and to the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have a Municipal Police, as provided in Act No. 93 of July 13, 1988, as amended, known as the "Uniform Seizure Act of 1988".
This Special Register shall include, among others, the following: (1) Description of the vehicle or means of land transportation including trademark, year, model or type, color, license plate number or replacement identification number assigned, type of engine, actual horse power, registration number, number of doors, if applicable, and any other numbers or trademark of the unit or its parts. (2) A notation that indicates and describes the series number as altered and that resulted in the seizure and the way in which the forgery was made. (3) Date registered with the Special Register of Seized Vehicles with Replacement Identification Number of Department of Transportation and Public Works. (4) Any information related to the seizure, transfer to the Police of Puerto Rico or to the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have a municipal police, disappearance, theft, illegal appropriation or destruction. (5) Insurance company name and address."
Section 3.- A new Section 21-A is added to Act No. 8 of August 5, 1987, as amended, to read as follows: "Section 21A.- Any person who without an official use or authorization, voluntarily and knowingly possesses any part of a motor vehicle whose engine or series numbers have been re-numbered with a replacement identification number for the purpose of being used by the Puerto Rico Police or by a municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that has a municipal police, as established in Section 4-A of this Act, shall commit a misdemeanor and, if convicted, will receive the penalty of a fine of no less than five hundred (500) dollars nor more than five thousand (5000) dollars or the
penalty of imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or both at the Court's discretion.
The mere possession of parts or vehicles with a replacement identification number destined for the use of the Police of Puerto Rico or of a municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, that has a municipal police, shall constitute prima facie evidence of the voluntary possession to which this Section refers.
Section 4.- The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, in coordination with the Seizure Board, shall issue the regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Act, in a term no greater than one hundred twenty (120) days, starting from the approval of the same.
Section 5.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 72 (S.B. 1300) (Conference) of the $5^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend subsection
(e) of Section 15 of Act No. 93 of July 13, 1988, as amended, known as "Uniform Seizure Act of 1988", and to add a new Section 4-A and Section 21-A to Act No. 8 of August 5, 1987, as amended, known as the "Act for the Protection of Vehicular Property"; to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works to assign a replacement identification number and to establish the Special Register of Seized Vehicles with Replacement identification number, etc. has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $3^{ ext {rd }}$ of March of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director