United States v. Hector Magallon-Lopez

Opinion by Judge WATFORD; Concurrence by Judge BERZON.

OPINION

WATFORD, Circuit Judge:

Officers investigating an interstate drug-trafficking ring learned through wiretap intercepts that a shipment of methamphetamine would be traveling by car from Washington to Minnesota. They stopped the car en route in Montana; the car belonged to appellant Hector Magallon-Lopez, who was driving. Officers seized the car and, after obtaining a search warrant, discovered approximately two pounds of methamphetamine hidden in an area beneath the trunk. That discovery formed the basis for Magallon-Lopez’s…