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Pursuant to an investigation of a suspected drug smuggling operation, United States Customs officers, by ground and air surveillance, observed two pickup trucks as they traveled to a remote private airstrip in Arizona and the arrival and departure there of two small airplanes. The officers smelled the odor of marihuana as they approached the trucks and saw in the back of the trucks packages wrapped in dark green plastic and sealed with tape, a common method of packaging marihuana. After arresting certain of the respondents at the airstrip, the officers took the trucks back to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters, and the packages were then placed in a DEA warehouse. Three days after the packages were seized from the trucks, Government agents, without obtaining a search warrant, opened some of the packages and took samples that later proved to be marihuana. Before trial on federal drug charges, the District Court granted the respondents' motion to suppress the marihuana, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding, inter alia, that United States v. Ross,
Held:
O'CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, REHNQUIST, and STEVENS, JJ., joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 488.
Alan I. Horowitz argued the cause for the United States. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Lee, Assistant Attorney General Trott, Deputy Solicitor General Frey, Joshua I. Schwartz, and Gloria C. Phares.
William G. Walker argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were Michael L. Piccarreta, Peter Keller, Nancy G. Postero, Walter B. Nash III, and Robert J. Hirsh.
JUSTICE O'CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.
In United States v. Ross,
Pursuant to an investigation of a suspected drug smuggling operation, a United States Customs officer went to respondent Duarte's residence in Tucson, Ariz., where he saw two pickup trucks. The Customs officer observed the trucks drive away, and he contacted other officers who conducted ground and air surveillance of the trucks as they traveled 100 miles to a remote private airstrip near Bowie, Ariz., approximately 50 miles from the Mexican border. Soon after the trucks arrived, a small aircraft landed. Although the Customs officers on the ground were unable to see what transpired, their counterparts in the air informed them that one of the trucks had approached the airplane. After a short time, the aircraft departed. A second small aircraft landed and then departed.
Two Customs officers on the ground came closer and parked their vehicles about 30 yards from the two trucks. One officer approached to investigate and saw an individual at the rear of one of the trucks covering the contents with a blanket. The officer ordered respondents to come out from behind the trucks and to lie on the ground. As he and the other officer walked towards the trucks, they smelled the odor of marihuana. They saw in the back of the trucks [469 U.S. 478, 481] packages wrapped in dark green plastic and sealed with tape. Based on their prior experience, the officers knew that smuggled marihuana is commonly packaged in this manner. Respondents Duarte, Leon, Gomez, Redmond, and Soto were arrested at the scene. The Customs Office surveillance aircraft followed the two small airplanes back to Tucson. Respondents Johns and Hearron, the pilots, were arrested upon landing.
The Customs officers did not search the pickup trucks at the desert airstrip. Instead, after arresting the respondents who were at the scene, the Customs officers took the trucks back to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Tucson. The packages were removed from the trucks and placed in a DEA warehouse. Without obtaining a search warrant, DEA agents opened some of the packages and took samples that later proved to be marihuana. Although the record leaves unclear precisely when the agents opened the packages, the parties do not dispute the conclusion of the Court of Appeals, 707 F.2d, at 1095, that the search occurred three days after the packages were seized from the pickup trucks.
A federal grand jury in the District of Arizona indicted respondents for conspiracy to possess and possession of marihuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 846. Before trial, the District Court granted respondents' motion to suppress the marihuana, and the Government appealed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3731. The Court of Appeals rejected the Government's contentions that the plain odor of marihuana emanating from the packages made a warrant unnecessary and that respondents Johns and Hearron lacked standing to challenge the search of the packages. 707 F.2d, at 1095-1096, 1099-1100. Neither of these issues is before this Court. Finally, the Court of Appeals held that Ross did not authorize the warrantless search of the packages three days after they were removed from the pickup trucks. 707 F.2d, at 1097-1099. Because we disagree with this conclusion, we reverse. [469 U.S. 478, 482]
Respondents argue that we should affirm the suppression of the marihuana on the ground that the Customs officers never had probable cause to conduct a vehicle search, and therefore Ross is inapplicable to this case. Instead, respondents contend that United States v. Chadwick,
Under the circumstances of this case, respondents' reliance on Chadwick is misplaced. In Chadwick, police officers had probable cause to believe that a footlocker contained contraband. As soon as the footlocker was placed in the trunk of an automobile, the officers seized the footlocker and later searched it without obtaining a warrant. The Court in Chadwick refused to hold that probable cause generally supports the warrantless search of luggage.
Respondents further contend that the record fails to show that a vehicle search ever in fact occurred. This argument is meritless. It is true that the trucks were not searched at the scene, and the record leaves unclear whether the Customs officers thoroughly searched the trucks after they were taken to DEA headquarters. The record does show, however, that the packages were unloaded from the trucks. Thus, the Customs officers conducted a vehicle search at least to the extent of entering the trucks and removing the packages. The possibility that the officers did not search the vehicles more extensively does not affect our conclusion that the packages were removed pursuant to a vehicle search. The issue presented by this case is whether the subsequent warrantless search was unreasonable merely because it occurred three days after the packages were unloaded from the pickup trucks.
Our analysis of the central issue in this case begins with our decision in Ross. There the Court observed that the exception to the warrant requirement recognized by Carroll allows a search of the same scope as could be authorized by a magistrate.
Ross, as the Court of Appeals acknowledged, 707 F.2d, at 1098, establishes that the Customs officers could have lawfully searched the packages when they were first discovered inside the trucks at the desert airstrip. Moreover, our previous decisions indicate that the officers acted permissibly by waiting until they returned to DEA headquarters before they searched the vehicles and removed their contents. See id., at 1099. There is no requirement that the warrantless search of a vehicle occur contemporaneously with its lawful seizure. Texas v. White,
The Court of Appeals concluded that Ross allows warrantless searches of containers only if the search occurs "immediately" as part of the vehicle inspection or "soon thereafter." See 707 F.2d, at 1099. Neither Ross nor our other vehicle search cases suggest any such limitation. Ross involved the
[469
U.S. 478, 485]
warrantless search of two different containers. After making a roadside arrest of the driver of an automobile, police officers opened the trunk and discovered a paper bag that contained what appeared to be narcotics. Ross, supra, at 801. The officers took the car to police headquarters and after a more thorough search discovered a leather pouch containing currency.
Ross, as the Court of Appeals noted, did observe in a footnote that if police may immediately search a vehicle on the street without a warrant, "a search soon thereafter at the police station is permitted if the vehicle is impounded."
The approach of the Court of Appeals not only lacks support in our decision in Ross, but it also fails to further the privacy interests protected by the Fourth Amendment. Whether respondents ever had a privacy interest in the packages reeking of marihuana is debatable. We have previously observed that certain containers may not support a reasonable expectation of privacy because their contents can be inferred from their outward appearance, Arkansas v. Sanders,
The warrantless search of the packages was not unreasonable merely because the Customs officers returned to Tucson and placed the packages in a DEA warehouse rather than immediately opening them. Cf. United States v. Jacobsen,
We do not suggest that police officers may indefinitely retain possession of a vehicle and its contents before they complete a vehicle search. Cf. Coolidge v. New Hampshire,
Accordingly, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Consistently with my disagreement with the Court in United States v. Ross,
But even accepting Ross, I disagree with today's blithe extension of the temporal scope of a permissible search on
[469
U.S. 478, 489]
analogy to Texas v. White,
It also cannot pass without comment that the Court has addressed an issue not before us. The Court of Appeals rejected the Government's argument that the "plain odor" of marihuana emanating from the packages obviated the need for a warrant to search them, 707 F.2d 1093, 1095-1096 (1983), and the Government has not renewed the argument here. Yet while properly noting that the "plain odor" issue is not before us, see ante, at 481, the Court suggests a very definite view with respect to the merits of this issue. Citing the Fourth Circuit case accepting the "plain odor" exception to the warrant requirement, United States v. Haley, 669 F.2d 201, 203-204, and n. 3, cert. denied,
I dissent. [469 U.S. 478, 490]
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Citation: 469 U.S. 478
No. 83-1625
Argued: November 28, 1984
Decided: January 21, 1985
Court: United States Supreme Court
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