State v. Snitkin

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

HAYASHI, J.

This case presents the question whether the police may use a trained narcotics detection dog to sniff all packages in a cargo holding room of a private mail carrier, known to drug enforcement officials as a high volume drug conduit, with the carrier’s permission but without the permission of the senders or addressees. We hold the dog’s sniff was not a search within the purview of the Fourth Amendment or article I, section 7 of the Hawaii constitution. Moreover, we find the police action reasonable because the important government interest in detecting and…