United States v. Francis Joseph McGreevy

Francis Joseph McGreevy appeals from a judgment of conviction for the possession of quaaludes under 21 U.S.C. § 844 (a). In his appeal, he contends that the district court erred in failing to suppress the quaaludes and their containers which were discovered during a warrantless search at the Miami International Airport.

On September 10, 1979, a man calling himself Tony Lagama brought a package to the Federal Express counter at the Miami International Airport. The package consisted of three courier-pak boxes to be shipped to M. Mayberry in Manhattan Beach, California. Courier-pak boxes normally contain documents.

The Federal Express station manager, William Cramer, while assisting an employee, moved the package. It rattled. Cramer checked the air bill to see what the package contained, but there was nothing on the bill. Cramer then tried to call the sender, a toy company, but there was no listing. Cramer then called the company’s security consultant, David Petrie.

When Petrie arrived at the company’s airport office, he also moved the package. When it rattled, he opened it and found three boxes each of which contained glas-sine envelopes which contained a large amount of white…