Heredia

I. BACKGROUND

Heredia was driving from Nogales, Arizona, to Tucson when she was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint. In the car with her was her mother, Raquel Moreno; her aunt, Beatriz Moreno; and two of Heredia’s young children. The Border Patrol agent noticed a perfume scent emanating from the car, and referred the car to the secondary inspection area. There, Heredia was asked to open the trunk. When neither the ignition key nor the interior trunk release button worked, an agent removed the back seat and saw two suspicious bundles. A complete search of the car produced twelve bundles, yield- ing 349.2 pounds of marijuana. The bundles were covered with dryer sheets, a method for concealing the odor of mari- juana, that produces a strong detergent scent in the car. Here- dia was arrested and charged with knowingly possessing contraband with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a).

The facts leading up to Heredia driving the car to Tucson are subject to much dispute by the witnesses. Heredia testified at trial that she had visited Nogales, Arizona to attend a funeral and had stayed at the home of an aunt, Belia Alva- rado. She left her aunt’s home early in…