United States v. David Arnold Driscoll, United States of America v. Glenn Arthur Welborn

David Arnold Driscoll and Glenn A. Welborn were convicted in separate court trials of conspiracy to import, importation, conspiracy to possess and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 846, 952, 960 and 963. In this consolidated appeal they contend that the district court (1) erred in denying their motions to suppress evidence obtained through a search of their airplane because the search was not a permissible extended border search and (2) abused its discretion in refusing to examine the plane. We affirm.

A United States Customs air officer (radar operator) was on duty at a Naval Air Station in the San Diego area, observing a radar screen, looking for aircraft crossing the border from Mexico into the United States. About 8:21 P.M. he observed an airplane about 20 miles south of the border and began tracking it. The plane went out of sight briefly, but the officer regained sight of the plane while it was still in Mexico. It crossed the border at 8:36 P.M. He continued to track the plane until it landed at Palomar Airfield at 9:00 P.M.

The officer lost radar contact with the plane twice while it was in the United…