People v. Espinoza CA2/6

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 28, 2013, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Deputy Gerald Lee Giese received an anonymous telephone call stating that a "panga" boat would be offloaded at Montana de Oro State Park that evening.2 Giese established a surveillance

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless stated otherwise. 2 A panga boat is "an open-bow vessel commonly used for smuggling." (United States v. Ramos-Atondo (9th Cir. 2013) 732 F.3d 1113, 1117.) team in the park area who observed four vehicles enter and leave the park several times in the late evening and early morning hours. Shortly thereafter, Giese received information from the United States Coast Guard that a panga boat was beached at the park. Deputies then stopped the four vehicles as they left the park within a few minutes of each other. The occupants wore wet and sandy clothing. When the deputies opened the back door of one vehicle, they discovered 1,909 pounds of marijuana worth between $2,000,000 and $6,000,000. The vehicles contained walkie-talkies set to the same channel; one vehicle also contained a semi-automatic firearm. Subsequently, the San Luis Obispo grand jury indicted…