When Federal Drug Laws Create Havoc for Citizens Series: GOVERNMENT'S BIG GRAB. CIVIL FORFEITURE. to Many Law Enforcement Officials, Asset Seizure Is a Key Weapon in the War on Drugs. but to Citizens Who Lose Property, It Can Be a Personal and Legal Nightmare. Today, the First in a Five-Part Series

Beginning of article

IT was Friday afternoon, just before New Year's. Walter Cwikla, a state safety adviser, was behind his house, chopping firewood. His wife, JoAnn, was grocery shopping. Unnoticed, a federal agent walked to their front door where he posted an official warning - their home was being seized by the United States government.

Federal attorneys claimed that years before, the Cwiklas' garage had been used briefly to store drugs for a marijuana trafficker. The government's "proof": testimony from anonymous witnesses.

Returning home, Mrs. Cwikla discovered the seizure notice. "I almost passed out," she recalls. "I couldn't believe it. I thought they had the wrong person.... …