Juarez-Flores v. United States, 25206.
| Decision Date | 14 June 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 25206.,25206. |
| Citation | 394 F.2d 161 |
| Parties | Vicente JUAREZ-FLORES, Juan Manuel Roman-Morales, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Heriberto J. Porras, Jr., Malcolm Harris, El Paso, Tex., for appellants.
Harry Lee Hudspeth, Asst. U. S. Atty., El Paso, Tex., Ernest Morgan, U. S. Atty., Harry Lee Hudspeth, Asst. U. S. Atty., El Paso, Tex., for appellee.
Before RIVES, BELL and GOLDBERG, Circuit Judges.
The two appellants and six co-defendants were charged in a three-count indictment. The first count charged all of the defendants with conspiracy in the smuggling and transportation of marihuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a, the conspiracy extending from about June 1, 1966 until about January 31, 1967. The second count charged appellant Juarez-Flores and another co-defendant with the substantive offense of receiving, concealing and transporting approximately 73 pounds of marihuana on or about January 25, 1967. The third count charged the appellant Roman-Morales with the substantive offense of receiving, concealing and transporting approximately 40 pounds of marihuana on or about August 11, 1966. The two appellants were found guilty as charged. Juarez-Flores was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven years on his conviction under the first count and to a like period under the second count, the sentences to run concurrently. Roman-Morales was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of fifteen years under the first count and to a like period under the third count, the sentences to run concurrently.
The prime insistence on appeal of Juarez-Flores is that the district court erred in overruling his motion to suppress the two suit cases filled with marihuana on the theory that they were illegally seized and searched at the Greyhound Bus Station at El Paso, Texas, on January 25, 1967. The government seeks to justify the search and seizure on three separate grounds: (1) that the search was a "border search" authorized by 19 U.S.C. § 482, (2) that Juarez-Flores voluntarily consented to the search, and (3) that the search and seizure were incidental to a lawful arrest based on probable cause. We by-pass the first two grounds and hold that there was probable cause for the search and seizure.
Customs Agents in New York and El Paso had for several months been investigating the activities of an organized ring which was smuggling marihuana into the United States from Mexico at El Paso, Texas, and transporting it to New York. On January 19, 1967, Customs Agents in New York advised agents in El Paso that they had information that Jose Rangel or some member of his group would send another shipment of marihuana the following week. The El Paso agents were further advised that the shipment would be sent by Greyhound bus, that it would be addressed to a fictitious name in New York City, and that it would be shipped in one or more large metal suit cases or trunks of a particular description.
Upon receipt of this information, El Paso Customs Agents set up a surveillance during a four-day period at the Greyhound Bus Station. In addition to the above information, the agents participating in the surveillance were told that the person bringing the containers into the bus station would probably be either a large, strong Mexican man or a smaller Mexican man.
On January 25, at about 9:45 a. m., appellant Vicente Juarez-Flores entered the Greyhound Bus Station in El Paso carrying two metal containers of the type described in the prior information. Appellant had set the containers down at the baggage counter and filled out a shipping form, when he was approached by the Customs Agents. They accompanied him to his car seeking to find a key for the containers. Failing to find the key, the Customs Agents escorted appellant back to the Greyhound Bus Station and into the baggage rooms, where the containers were opened with keys owned by the Customs officers. The containers proved to be full of marihuana.
Customs Agents have authority to make arrests without warrants for violation of any law of the United States relating to marihuana where they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such violation. 26 U.S.C. § 7607(2). When the Customs Agents approached and arrested Juarez-Flores, they had reliable information that the shipment of marihuana was to be sent by Greyhound bus. The shipping tag was to a fictitious name in New York City corresponding to one on a list in the possession of the Customs Agents. Juarez-Flores was a large, strong Mexican man...
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