LABORDE

SUMMARY

This is an appeal from the denial of a motion to suppress evidence under Penal Code section 1538.5. Defendant asserts that the search of his stateroom on a cruise ship by a customs officer, after the ship docked in Long Beach at the conclusion of a foreign cruise, was conducted without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and therefore violated the Fourth Amendment. The People assert the search was a routine border search for which reasonable suspicion is not required. We agree with the People and affirm the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant Mark Stevens Laborde pled guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) and was sentenced to three years’ formal probation. The methamphetamine was found during a search of a stateroom on a Carnival Cruise Line vessel shared by Laborde and his girlfriend. The ship had just docked in Long Beach on its return from a cruise to Mexico.

Crew and passenger lists are provided in ordinary course to United States customs by the cruise line. Analysis of the passenger list provided by Carnival showed Laborde previously had been arrested on narcotics and drug paraphernalia charges,…