Attorneys for Mario Ayala filed a motion Tuesday arguing that the government failed to send the notice required for him to contest the seizure. They say agents told Ayala’s family they would follow up within 30 days, but the family heard nothing. Ayala has not been charged with a crime.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service searched Ayala’s Mini Market and 18 other Phoenix-area money-services businesses on Feb. 25, 2025. The warrants identified suspected structuring — dividing cash transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements — as the suspected offense.

Ayala’s attorneys argue that the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act requires federal authorities to notify property owners in writing within 60 days of a seizure and explain how to challenge it. They say the law requires the government to return property if it does not provide that notice. The attorneys also contend that a separate federal law barred the IRS from seizing the money when structuring was the only suspected offense.

The claims are arguments in the pending case, not findings by a judge. The government is expected to respond to the motion in about 60 days. An HSI spokesperson declined to discuss the matter, citing active litigation.

Ayala was in Mexico with his dying father during the raid. Speaking through an interpreter, he said the seizure left the store short of cash for customers needing to cash checks and that business had fallen by about 40%. He opened the market in 2018 to support his family and said he wants to rebuild the business.

The case puts a local small business at the center of a dispute over civil asset forfeiture, a process that allows the government to seek property it suspects is connected to crime without first charging its owner. Ayala’s attorneys say the notice requirements are meant to give owners a way to challenge such seizures.