When DIAN seizes goods and a criminal complaint is mentioned, two separate proceedings appear: the customs one, which decides what happens to the goods, and the criminal one, which can put your liberty at stake. Articles 319 and 320 of the Penal Code distinguish between whoever brings in or conceals goods and whoever holds, transports, stores or distributes them, and they measure gravity in minimum wages. Ligal defends end to end, in customs and in criminal matters.
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Article 319 of the Penal Code (Law 599 of 2000), as amended by Article 4 of Law 1762 of 2015, defines smuggling: bringing goods into or taking them out of the country through non-authorized places in an amount above 50 SMMLV (monthly legal minimum wages), with 4 to 8 years in prison and a fine of 200% to 300% of the customs value. The same penalty applies to whoever conceals, disguises or removes from customs control and intervention goods worth more than 50 SMMLV, or brings them into the primary zone without the legal formalities. If the amount exceeds 200 SMMLV, the prison term is 9 to 12 years, with the same fine. The provision sets aggravating circumstances when the perpetrator holds the status of Altex, UAP, trusted user or operator, OEA or operator under a special regime, and greater punishment for repeat offenders. It also contains a rule that changes the decisions of anyone facing a seizure: under its paragraph, the legalization of the goods does not extinguish criminal action. In other words, regularizing the goods before the customs authority may help recover them, but it does not by itself close the criminal front.
Article 320, as amended by Article 6 of Law 1762 of 2015, punishes aiding and facilitating smuggling: possessing, holding, transporting, loading, unloading, storing, concealing, distributing or selling goods that were illegally brought in, concealed or removed from customs control, or brought into the primary zone without formalities. If the amount exceeds 50 and reaches up to 200 SMMLV, the prison term is 3 to 6 years; above 200 SMMLV, 6 to 10 years, and in both cases there is a fine of 200% to 300% of the customs value. The provision does not apply to the end consumer who holds an invoice or equivalent document meeting the requirements of Article 771-2 of the Tax Code. That difference matters because the warehouse keeper, carrier, trader or reseller can face Article 320 without having brought the goods in. In parallel runs the administrative regime: Law 2586 of 2026 governs customs infractions, seizure and forfeiture, which proceed only on the grounds set by law (see /decomiso-aprehension-dian), and the general customs service is at /aduanas. The administrative infraction is disputed before DIAN; the crime, before the prosecutor's office and the courts. One does not replace the other, and what is said on one front may appear on the other.
Key points on customs criminal risk
Ligal assists the importer, carrier, warehouse keeper or trader from the seizure, organizes proof of the origin and value of the goods and runs the customs and criminal defense in parallel, without promising results.
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The verbs of each article matter: bringing in, concealing or removing from customs control point to Article 319; possessing, transporting, storing, distributing or selling point to Article 320. We reconstruct what each person did, since when and with what information, because the criminal risk is not the same for the owner of the cargo as for whoever carried or stored it.
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The 50 and 200 SMMLV thresholds determine whether there is a criminal offense and which penalty is in play. LIGAL Auditores and Jeysson Pulido quantify the value of the goods with support (invoice, payments, transport document) and check whether the customs value put forward by the authority is consistent (see /valoracion-aduanera-dian).
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We review whether the seizure rests on a ground provided by law (Law 2586 of 2026 limits them) and whether the goods were presented, declared and covered. Before legalizing, paying or accepting liability, we assess how that decision reads in the criminal case, because legalization does not extinguish criminal action.
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We respond before DIAN and before the prosecutor's office making sure each filing is consistent with the other front. Ligal takes on the whole defense without splitting it, and the same team runs it from the seizure through the judicial stages.
A smuggling or aiding-smuggling case is decided between the documentary proof of the goods and the consistency of what is said to DIAN and to the prosecutor's office.
Director · Tax lawyer, ex-DIAN
Leads the legal strategy and representation in customs and criminal matters: decides what to answer, what decision to take about the goods and how to conduct the defense if there is a complaint or summons.
Accountant · Quantification and tracing
Reconstructs the amount, the payments and the documentary path of the goods to back the value and legality of each operation with data.
Certified public accountants
Prepare accounting support and technical analyses on costs, invoices and payments that serve as evidence before DIAN, the prosecutor's office and the courts.
The paragraph of Article 319 says legalization does not extinguish criminal action. We assess whether legalizing is worthwhile to recover the goods and what effects it has in the criminal case before making the decision.
Creating, completing or backdating invoices, contracts or transport documents to answer a seizure can create a new criminal problem. We work only with authentic proof of what happened.
Seizure is an administrative measure that proceeds on legal grounds. Its existence alone does not prove the amount or a person's participation in the crime. We analyze both fronts separately.
When DIAN seizes goods and a complaint is announced, or when the prosecutor's office summons a person for smuggling or aiding smuggling, Ligal conducts the defense end to end, in customs and in criminal matters, before DIAN, the Fiscalía General de la Nación and the courts. Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto, a tax lawyer and ex-DIAN, leads the strategy together with accountant Jeysson Pulido and LIGAL Auditores (certified public accountants) to establish the amount, the documentary origin of the goods and each person's real role. The team, with lawyers, accountants and direct experience inside DIAN, handles real cases of tax and customs audit, enforced collection and tax and customs litigation.
Please note: no result is guaranteed; each case depends on the facts, the amount and the available evidence. Ligal takes on the defense end to end, criminal and customs.
Director
Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto
Tax lawyer · Ex-DIAN
Deadlines from notification are short. We assess the seizure record, the summons or the notice of complaint within 48 business hours. Use the form or open Diagnosis.
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TodayWe review the seizure record or summons, what the goods are, who held them, how they arrived and what support exists (invoice, declaration, transport document).
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48 business hWe verify the ground for the seizure, the amount in SMMLV and customs value, and whether each person's conduct fits Article 319, Article 320 or neither.
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ImmediateWe define what to answer to DIAN, whether to legalize or contest the seizure, and how to prepare the criminal defense if there is a complaint or charge.
Frequently asked questions
Not necessarily. Seizure is an administrative measure that proceeds on grounds set by law (for example, goods not presented, or not declared or not covered under Articles 294, 295 and 594 of Decree 1165 of 2019, within the regime of Law 2586 of 2026). The crime of smuggling also requires conduct described in Article 319 of the Penal Code and an amount above 50 SMMLV. Both may or may not coexist. Criminal risk is assessed on the specific case, not on the mere fact of a seizure.
Article 319 (smuggling) punishes bringing in or taking out goods above 50 SMMLV through non-authorized places, concealing them or removing them from customs control, or bringing them into the primary zone without formalities: 4 to 8 years in prison and a fine of 200% to 300% of the customs value; above 200 SMMLV, 9 to 12 years. Article 320 (aiding) punishes possessing, transporting, storing, concealing, distributing or selling those goods: 50 to 200 SMMLV, 3 to 6 years; above 200 SMMLV, 6 to 10 years, with the same fine. Conversion to pesos and the customs value are established in each case with technical support.
The conduct. Smuggling (Art. 319) centers on bringing in or taking out goods through non-authorized places, or concealing or removing them from customs control. Aiding and facilitating (Art. 320) reaches whoever possesses, holds, transports, loads, unloads, stores, conceals, distributes or sells goods that were already illegally brought in or concealed. That is why a carrier, warehouse keeper or trader can face Article 320 without having brought the goods in. What each person did is proven through documents and conduct.
The administrative infraction is contested before DIAN, under the sanction and forfeiture regime of Law 2586 of 2026 (in force since its promulgation; it repealed Decree-Law 920 of 2023, declared unconstitutional by ruling C-072 of 2025 with deferred effects), and may end in a fine or forfeiture of the goods; the sanctioning power lapses 3 years after the act (Art. 20). The crime is investigated by the prosecutor's office and decided by a judge, with prison and a fine. They are independent proceedings: being sanctioned, or not, in one does not settle the other. See /decomiso-aprehension-dian.
No. The paragraph of Article 319 of the Penal Code provides that legalization of the goods does not extinguish criminal action. Legalizing can be useful to recover the goods or regularize the customs situation, but it must be decided with the criminal angle at the table, because what is acknowledged or paid before DIAN can later be read in the criminal case. This difference is analyzed case by case.
Request and keep a copy of the record, note the date of notification because deadlines from it are short, gather the invoice, import declaration, transport document and payments, and do not sign acknowledgments or give statements without advice. Do not create, complete or alter documents. Identify your role (owner, carrier, warehouse keeper, buyer) and do not answer questions about the origin of the goods without reviewing them with your lawyer. A defense coordinated from day one lets you keep the same account before DIAN and the prosecutor's office.
Article 320 does not apply to the end consumer who holds an invoice or equivalent document meeting the requirements of Article 771-2 of the Tax Code. If you buy to resell, store or distribute, the situation changes and the conduct, the amount and your knowledge of the goods' origin must be analyzed. Keep the invoice and payment records of each operation.
Article 319 provides aggravating circumstances when the person committing the conduct holds the status of Altex, UAP, trusted user or operator, OEA or operator under a special regime, and sets greater punishment for repeat offenders. This means that those operating under a special customs status must take greater care with the traceability of their operations.
It can have an effect. The 50 and 200 SMMLV thresholds and the fine are measured on the value of the goods and the customs value. That is why we review, with support (invoice, payments, contract), whether the value put forward by the authority is consistent. A technical dispute over value can influence both the customs and the criminal front. See /valoracion-aduanera-dian.
Ligal is a firm specialized in tax and customs law that takes on the defense end to end, in customs and in criminal matters, with the same team. Under the direction of Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto, a tax lawyer and ex-DIAN, together with Jeysson Pulido, accountant, and LIGAL Auditores (certified public accountants), we represent the client before DIAN, the prosecutor's office and the courts, and we gather the proof of the amount and of each person's role. Our work is backed by 5.0 / 5 on Google with 36 reviews: https://share.google/VVzMvULrOj8Mj52Au. The team handles real cases of tax and customs audit, enforced collection and tax and customs litigation. No result is guaranteed.
Free. Attach the seizure record, the summons or the notice of complaint, state your role (owner, carrier, warehouse keeper, buyer) and the available support. We assess the ground, the amount and the strategy.