United States v. Miguel Angel Arias

On July 6, 1968, customs officials at the San Ysidro, California, Port of Entry, found sixty pounds of marihuana in a 1957 Buick driven across the border by Luz Villagran. Claiming, in effect, to be only a “mule”, Villagran related to authorities that Miguel Arias, who had assertedly promised to pay her one hundred dollars to drive the load car, had arranged to pick up the contraband at her home in Los Angeles upon his return from Mexico. Having promised her cooperation, Villagran was escorted home by customs agents and “told to proceed as she was supposed to,” i. e., to await Arias’ pickup. The expected rendezvous did not occur until the next morning when Arias arrived at Villa-gran’s house driving his 1966 Chevrolet station wagon. He told Villagran that he wanted to unload the marihuana in her house, but when she told him her boy friend was in the house, the defendant said he had better take the load car.

Arias backed the Buick out of the driveway, proceeded for a short distance and then returned to Villagran’s house where he was placed under arrest by the customs agents. Although a cursory weapons search of Arias’ station wagon yielded negative results, a more thorough probe,…