33 U.S.C. § 385 : US Code - Section 385: Seizure and condemnation of vessels fitted out for piracy

Search 33 U.S.C. § 385 : US Code - Section 385: Seizure and condemnation of vessels fitted out for piracy

Any vessel built, purchased, fitted out in whole or in part, or
held for the purpose of being employed in the commission of any
piratical aggression, search, restraint, depredation, or seizure,
or in the commission of any other act of piracy, as defined by the
law of nations, shall be liable to be captured and brought into any
port of the United States if found upon the high seas, or to be
seized if found in any port or place within the United States,
whether the same shall have actually sailed upon any piratical
expedition or not, and whether any act of piracy shall have been
committed or attempted upon or from such vessel or not; and any
such vessel may be adjudged and condemned, if captured by a vessel
authorized as mentioned in section 386 of this title to the use of
the United States, and to that of the captors, and if seized by a
collector, surveyor, or marshal, then to the use of the United
States.