(a)(1) Any contraband article and any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance which has been or is being used in violation of any provision of this title or of the revenue laws of this state, and any vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance in, upon, or by means of which any violation has taken or is taking place shall be seized by any law enforcement officer or revenue officer of this state without a warrant and shall be delivered forthwith to the commissioner.

(2) After any such delivery, the commissioner shall post a notice of the seizure for a period of ten days in a prominent place in the courthouse of the county in which the seizure occurred. The notice shall state that a decision as to seizure and forfeiture will be made by the commissioner at the expiration of the ten-day period; and the notice shall act as a bar against any person subsequently asserting a claim of any interest existing in the article at the time of seizure.

(3) Upon determining that an article is contraband and that the seizure and forfeiture of the article is in accordance with this Code section, the commissioner shall direct the disposition or destruction of the article as he may reasonably deem appropriate. Any sale of such articles shall be to the highest bidder for cash and the proceeds of the sale shall be delivered to the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services.

(b) No vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance used in the transaction of business as a common carrier shall be forfeited under this Code section unless it shall appear that, in the case of a railway car or engine, the owner or, in the case of any other such vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance, the owner or the master of such vessel or the owner or conductor, driver, pilot, or other person in charge of such vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance was at the time of the alleged illegal act a consenting party or privy thereto.

(c) No vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance shall be forfeited under this Code section by reason of any act or omission shown by the owner of the conveyance to have been committed or omitted by any person other than the owner while the vessel, vehicle, aircraft, or other conveyance was unlawfully in the possession of a person who acquired possession of the conveyance in violation of the criminal laws applicable to the location of acquisition, whether of the United States or of any state of the United States.