19 CFR § 162.4 - Search for letters.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t19/s162.4"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "19 CFR § 162.4 - Search for letters."
title_number: 19
title_name: "Customs Duties"
section_number: "162.4"
section_name: "Search for letters."
chapter_name: "U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY"
part_number: "162"
part_name: "INSPECTION, SEARCH, AND SEIZURE"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 19 U.S.C. 66, 1592, 1593a, 1624, 6 U.S.C. 101, 8 U.S.C. 1324(b)."
regulatory_source: "T.D. 72-211, 37 FR 16488, Aug. 15, 1972, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "162"
---


# 162.4 Search for letters.

A Customs officer may search vessels for letters which may be on board or may have been conveyed contrary to law on board any vessel or on any post route, and shall seize such letters and deliver them to the nearest post office or detain them subject to the orders of the postal authorities.

[T.D. 72-211, 37 FR 16488, Aug. 15, 1972]