Luong

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Search Warrant

On August 1, 2003, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in conjunction with local Los Angeles police officers, initiated an investigation of Chun-Ying Jao, a Taiwanese male, after Jao arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from Hong Kong. The next day, the agents sought a warrant to search the residence of Appellee Thai Tung Luong, with whom Jao had met earlier that day.

Officer Lori Fishburn of the Monterey Park Police Depart- ment swore out the affidavit submitted in support of the war- rant. The affidavit asserted the following: that a multi-agency investigation of Chun-Ying Jao was underway; that Jao had arrived in Monterey Park, California, and had checked into a local hotel; that the Hong Kong office of the DEA had informed the Los Angeles office that “a suspected suspect known as a chemist” was arriving at Los Angeles Interna- tional Airport (LAX) to “set[ ] up and manufactur[e] metham- phetamine”; that a flight arrived at LAX on August 1; and that police followed Jao to a hotel.

The affidavit detailed the continuous surveillance of Jao after his arrival at the hotel as follows. On August 2, the day after Jao arrived…