U.S. v. Ramirez-Cifuentes, RAMIREZ-CIFUENTE

Citation682 F.2d 337
Decision Date21 June 1982
Docket NumberRAMIREZ-CIFUENTE,No. 1043,A,D,1043
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Nelly Pilarppellant. ocket 82-1023.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

Richard R. Leff, New York City, for appellant.

Robert Stolz, Asst. U. S. Atty. for the E. D. N. Y., Brooklyn, N. Y. (Edward R. Korman, U. S. Atty., E. D. N. Y., Vivian Shevitz, Asst. U. S. Atty., E. D. N. Y., Brooklyn, N. Y., of counsel), for appellee.

Before LUMBARD, KAUFMAN and PIERCE, Circuit Judges.

KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

Almost a century ago, Justice Gray eloquently captured the essence of the Fourth Amendment's guarantees when he noted that "(n)o right ... is more carefully guarded by the common law, than the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law." 1 Courts accordingly have proceeded with caution when determining whether the interaction of a law enforcement official with the freedoms of an individual offends the Fourth Amendment. With increasing recurrence, we have considered the delicate balance which must be struck between the interest of the public in terminating narcotics smuggling and the individual's right to live unburdened by unreasonable intrusions on his privacy as we are called upon to assess the constitutionality of a warrantless "investigatory stop" of domestic air passengers by Drug Enforcement Administration agents struggling to stem the flood of dangerous drugs.

Today we are asked once again to determine whether a warrantless airport stop and search initiated to apprehend a narcotics courier falls within constitutionally permissible bounds. Nelly Pilar Ramirez-Cifuentes was stopped and briefly questioned by Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Alfredo Iglesias at LaGuardia Airport as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's program to intercept illegal drugs. The subsequent search of her black shoulder bag revealed 540 grams of 93 percent pure cocaine. After a hearing, Judge Platt denied her motion to suppress the cocaine and certain statements she had made to Agent Iglesias. Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes then entered a plea of guilty 2 to possessing cocaine with intent to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). 3 She now would have us determine that the district court improperly denied her motion to suppress the evidence because the cocaine was taken from her as a result of an unconstitutional investigatory stop and search in the course of which the seizure occurred. Because we find Judge Platt correctly denied the suppression motion, we affirm the judgment of conviction.

I

At the suppression hearing before Judge Platt, the familiar scenario of surveillance and encounter unfolded. On the evening of June 16, 1981, Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") Agents Alfredo Iglesias and Jesse Meekins were stationed at LaGuardia Airport in New York as part of the DEA's endeavors to monitor passengers on flights from certain "source cities" to control the flow of illegal drugs. Agents Iglesias, who had six years' experience with the DEA, and Meekins were awaiting the arrival of Eastern Airlines Flight 28, non-stop from Miami, a well-known source city, to New York to observe the passengers as they left the aircraft. They positioned themselves opposite Gates 33 and 34A in the Eastern Airlines Terminal so that they would have an unobstructed view of the faces and demeanor of the arriving passengers. At approximately 9:30 P.M., Flight 28 parked at the gate, and the passengers began to disembark and walk into the concourse. In the first group to emerge from the gate was appellant Ramirez-Cifuentes.

As Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes entered the concourse that leads from the gate to the main terminal, she continually glanced about as if looking for someone or something. The agents' attention was attracted to her because this was a limited access area in which it would be unusual for a passenger to be searching for someone meeting her, and, in addition, she was the only passenger Agent Iglesias could see engaging in such conduct. The agents followed her movements as she proceeded rapidly down the concourse, constantly turning her head to peer back toward the gate. As she walked quickly and vigorously, passing the normal flow of traffic, she looked once again in the direction of the agents, turned her head down, accelerated her gait, and pressed forward through the crowd. As the agents watched her progress, they noticed she was carrying two bags-a small aqua blue woman's purse with a shoulder strap on her left shoulder as well as a round, soft black shoulder bag on her right. The black shoulder bag, which appeared to be new and filled to capacity, bore no identification tags and was clutched tightly to her body. At this point, Agent Iglesias, suspicious of Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes's conduct because it resembled the actions of narcotics traffickers he had apprehended during his years of experience, began to follow her down the concourse. Agent Meekins remained at the gate.

Walking very rapidly, almost running, to reach a place ten or fifteen feet behind her, Agent Iglesias continued to note her quick pace. He also observed that as she passed the security area, which was on the left side of the corridor, she took pains to stay far to the right. In addition, as she continued down the block-long corridor, an elderly woman approached her and asked, in Spanish, whether Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes had been on the flight from Miami. Ignoring the question, she sped toward the end of the concourse, descended on an escalator, passed through the baggage area, claiming no luggage, and went out to the street. With Agent Iglesias still watching through the glass wall of the terminal, she turned, looked back into the building, and stared directly at him. She then joined a taxi line and repeatedly glanced about as if searching for someone.

After considering the import of his observations, Agent Iglesias left the building and approached Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes on the taxi line. He immediately identified himself as a federal agent and displayed his badge. After ascertaining that her native tongue was Spanish, the agent, who is fluent in that language, repeated his statements in Spanish. He stated he would like to ask her a few questions and proceeded to do so as he walked with her in the line as it advanced. After determining Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes had just arrived from Miami, he asked her to show him her airline ticket receipt. After rummaging through her bag, she produced a copy of a one-way ticket issued earlier that day by a travel agency, for cash, in the name of Rosa Gomez. Agent Iglesias examined the ticket and asked Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes her name. She appeared startled by his inquiry and commenced looking about. Then, after some hesitation, she replied her name was Rosa Gomez. When identification was requested, she responded that she must have left it at home and added she did not even have her social security card. 4

With this information now before him, Agent Iglesias asked if she would mind stepping out of line so they could continue the conversation unimpeded by the moving queue, and she agreed. Several steps away but still on the sidewalk, Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes answered, in reply to the agent's question, that she had no drugs. In response to his request to search the black shoulder bag, she said "sure" and opened a zipper on the bag. The agent, however, believing it the wiser course to conduct the search away from the flow of traffic, suggested they move to an area a few feet away inside the terminal in front of the Eastern Airlines baggage area. She then followed Agent Iglesias into the building. Once inside, he again requested permission to search the bag and she once more consented. The search revealed a gift-wrapped package, tightly secured with tape, but with no ribbons or card attached. When asked what was in the parcel, appellant asserted it contained only items of clothing purchased as a gift for a friend.

To Agent Iglesias, however, the answer did not ring true because the package felt too heavy for such contents. Moreover, during this conversation, his suspicions were further aroused by Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes's nervous demeanor. Indeed, at the suppression hearing he characterized her as "very nervous, extremely nervous. Her hands were shaking, her legs were shaking." Accordingly, he told her he wished to unwrap the parcel. Contradicting her previous statement about the package, she, according to the agent's testimony, stated: "Well, you have my permission but you can imagine what the person that gave me this box is going to think." After attempting to dispel the confusion created by the conflicting explanations of the parcel through further inquiry, Agent Iglesias requested and appellant gave her consent to opening the package so long as the agent did not damage the gift-wrapping. After carefully unwrapping the box, he discovered approximately 540 grams of 93 percent pure cocaine.

Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes was immediately arrested and given Miranda warnings. Indicating she understood, she related the events leading to the transportation of the package from Miami. In the main, she stated that she had been paid $500 to carry the parcel to New York.

Subsequently, she was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). She pleaded not guilty and requested suppression of certain statements as well as the cocaine on the grounds that the seizure of that evidence stemmed from violations of her Fourth Amendment rights. After a hearing, Judge Platt denied the motion to suppress. Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes then entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to three years imprisonment and a lifetime special parole term. This appeal followed.

II

Ms. Ramirez-Cifuentes urges us to conclude that Agent...

To continue reading

Request your trial
29 cases
  • US v. Ceballos
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • June 30, 1989
    ...(quoting Powell, J., concurring in United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 561-62, 100 S.Ct. at 1880-81); United States v. Ramirez-Cifuentes, 682 F.2d 337, 344 (2d Cir.1982) (acknowledging "the elusive nature of trafficking in narcotics"). Complicating the difficulty of detection is the fa......
  • U.S. v. Sokolow
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • November 4, 1987
    ...into account." United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417, 101 S.Ct. 690, 695, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981); see also United States v. Ramirez-Cifuentes, 682 F.2d 337, 342 (9th Cir.1982). and the increasing difficulty of the courts in defining the ......
  • U.S. v. Berryman, 82-1194
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • May 6, 1983
    ...Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. at 881, 95 S.Ct. at 2580, quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. at 29, 88 S.Ct. at 1884); United States v. Ramirez-Cifuentes, 682 F.2d 337, 343 (2d Cir.1982) (court must "carefully measure[ ] the need for the stop against the nature of the intrusion suffered"); United Sta......
  • U.S. v. Rosa
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • December 3, 1993
    ...The same standard applies to a finding that the defendant voluntarily consented to a search. See, e.g., United States v. Ramirez-Cifuentes, 682 F.2d 337, 344 (2d Cir.1982); United States v. Forero-Rincon, 626 F.2d 218, 224 (2d Cir.1980); United States v. Vasquez, 612 F.2d 1338, 1347 (2d Cir......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT