2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VI - Dangerous Substances (§§ 2701 — 2716) › Chapter 121 - Dangerous Substances Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 2701 — 2710) › § 2706 - Detention or embargo

(a) When the Secretary or his duly authorized representative should have reasonable motives to believe that any dangerous substance, unduly labeled dangerous substance or prohibited substance is possessed, manufactured, sold, distributed or handled in violation of the provisions of this chapter, or the regulations promulgated by the Secretary, he shall attach to said substance a label or another appropriate mark advising that said substance violates the provisions hereof and that it has been detained, or embargoed; and shall give notice on the same label or appropriate mark to all interested persons that said substance cannot be removed from where it is, or disposed of through sale or other way, until the Secretary, or his authorized representative or the Court of First Instance gives the corresponding permission therefor. For his protection, he shall draw up a document in original and copy, signed by the Secretary, or his authorized representative, stating the amount of merchandise under his custody, and he shall hand a copy of the document to the possessor, owner or person in charge of the article.
Any person aggrieved by the detention or embargo of a dangerous substance shall be entitled to an administrative hearing within five (5) working days following the detention or embargo decreed by the Secretary of Health or his authorized representative. If the aggrieved person should fail to appear at the administrative hearing, it will be understood that he has waived his right to oppose the embargo or detention decreed by the Secretary who is hereby authorized to destroy the embargoed or detained substances.
(b) Any person aggrieved by the Secretary’s order, as a result of the administrative hearing, may appeal to the Court of First Instance within fifteen (15) days after the order has been issued. If the Court of First Instance should find that the substance violates the provisions of this chapter, it shall order its destruction, at the expense of the person being convicted and under the supervision of the Secretary or his authorized representative, and all costs and fees, warehousing and other essential expenses shall be chargeable also to the person being convicted of violating the provisions hereof; Provided, That when the labeling can be corrected, the court, or the Secretary, in the administrative hearing held, can order that said substance be returned to the manufacturer, packager, importer or distributor through a bond equal to two times the total value of the substance to be consigned to the court or Department of Health, so that it can be labeled again under the supervision of the Secretary or his authorized representative. In case the detained or embargoed substance should be in the hands of the retail-seller, the manufacturer, packager, importer or distributor to whom the substance is delivered for correction of the label shall hand in the same duly labeled to the retail-seller. The bond shall be returned when the Secretary or his authorized representative is informed that the substance no longer infringes the provisions of this chapter and that it is in the hands of the person object of the detention or embargo.
History —July 23, 1974, No. 233, Part 2, p. 207, § 6, eff. 60 days after July 23, 1974.