United States v. Jaime Gomez-Tostado

Gomez-Tostado appeals from his conviction for possession, with the intent to distribute, a controlled substance (heroin) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). He raises two arguments which merit discussion: that this statute does not make criminal the possession of heroin if he intends to distribute it in a foreign country and, secondly, that transshipment of the contraband is governed by 21 U.S.C. § 954 rather than by section 841(a)(1). We affirm.

In an effort to stop the flow of narcotics in Mexico, Mexican officials established roadblocks to stop vehicles and perform searches for narcotics and other contraband. Mexican officials advised agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States Department of Justice (DEA) that, in order to avoid these roadblocks, narcotics violators transported contraband from the interior of Mexico across the border in Texas to the San Diego area to Tijuana, B.C., Mexico. Information from a confidential source indicated that GomezTostado had, in the past, transported a quantity of heroin by this route. The informant also stated that Gomez-Tostado had recently left Tijuana, crossed the border into the United States at San Ysidro,…