United States v. Adan Serna Torres

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge:

Adan Serna Torres, appellant, was stopped for a citizenship check at the Border Patrol’s permanent Falfurrias, Texas checkpoint on December 5, 1974. 1 During the citizenship inquiry the officer detected the odor of marijuana emanating from appellant’s automobile. A subsequent search revealed 198 pounds of marijuana in the trunk.

Appellant’s motion to suppress the marijuana was unsuccessful, and he was found guilty.

Stopping vehicles at a permanent Border Patrol checkpoint to inquire into the occupant’s citizenship does not offend the Fourth Amendment. United States v.…