United States v. Jose Orlando Caicedo-Guarnizo

This is an appeal of a judgment of conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). It raises the issues of the validity of an extended border search and the voluntariness of a consent to be searched. We note jurisdiction and affirm the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

Jose Orlando Caicedo-Guarnizo (appellant) arrived at the New Orleans International Airport on September 10, 1982, traveling on a round-trip ticket from Bogota, Colombia to Houston, Texas. He passed through the primary U.S. Customs inspection station around 4:30 p.m., and then moved on to the secondary inspection area. He appeared to be about thirty years old, was well dressed, was traveling alone, was carrying only one suitcase, and had paid for his ticket in cash. Since appellant fit the visual profile of an internal ingestion drug smuggler, he was questioned in detail. He told the inspector that he was on vacation, that he planned to meet a friend at the Houston Marriott Hotel, and that he intended to buy more clothes in Houston. He was not carrying a wallet; instead, he carried $1,200 in cash in his airline ticket folder. On the strength of the…