United States v. Anthony N. Carrion, United States of America v. Clifford Wade Guttersrud

Carrion and Guttersrud appeal from their convictions for smuggling marihuana by airplane from Mexico into the United States in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 176a.

On November 19, 1970, an untested informant told Customs Agent Rosen-blatt that Carrion and Guttersrud were in Mexico, that they were going to transport marihuana from Mexico to one of three airports in the Los Angeles area using a Beeehcraft Bonanza, and that the pilot would falsely identify the plane’s FAA registration number to the tower. Customs agents were dispatched to all three airports, including the Torrance airport. Early in the evening of the same day, Agent Watson radioed Ro-senblatt that a Beeehcraft Bonanza had requested landing instructions and that the registration number of the aircraft had been falsely identified. When Carrion and Guttersrud were about 150 feet from the plane, Rosenblatt met them. He exercised a warrant for arrest of Carrion on an unrelated charge and caused Guttersrud to be detained for questioning. Thereafter, Rosenblatt looked in the window of the plane and saw a tarp-covered load of boxes bearing Spanish writing. He obtained the keys to the plane from Carrion, searched the plane, and…