United States v. SELJAN - Opinion

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

FedEx routes international packages sent from Southern California through the company’s regional hub in Oakland, California. The Oakland facility is one of four FedEx regional sorting facilities in the United States. At the facility, FedEx sorts packages by destination and places all document-sized packages bound for a particular country into locked contain- ers. United States v. Seljan, 328 F. Supp. 2d 1077, 1079 (C.D. Cal. 2004) (order denying motion to suppress). Next, FedEx loads some containers bound for the Philippines directly on a plane that departs from Oakland International Airport and then lands across the bay at San Francisco International Air- port. Id. Due to weight restrictions, FedEx transports other Philippines-bound containers by land to San Francisco Inter- national Airport. Id. Employees then load those containers onto the same plane that arrived from Oakland. Id. The plane then departs for Narita International Airport in Japan, with a possible refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. Id. 9842 UNITED STATES v. SELJAN Seljan sent at least three FedEx packages to the Philippines between November 20, 2002, and…