United States v. Gilbert Ortiz Santa Maria

Border Patrol agents, looking for aliens and drugs along a trail well traveled with both, came upon Gilbert Santa Maria’s property and, without consent, searched a trailer near his mobile home for drugs. They discovered burlap bags of marijuana. The district court found that the trailer was outside the curtilage; held that the search was authorized under 8 U.S.C. § 1357 (a)(3), which permits access to private lands within twenty-five miles of the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States; and denied Santa Maria’s motion to suppress. Following his conviction for conspiracy to ■possess marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a) and (b), and conspiracy to import marijuana and importation of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 963 , 960(b), and 952(a), Santa Maria appeals.

We must decide whether § 1357(a)(3) au- . thorizes the Border Patrol to search a structure such as Santa Maria’s trailer for drugs. We hold that while the agents had authority to enter Santa Maria’s lands to search for aliens, § 1357(a)(3) confers no authority to search the trailer for drugs. In the absence of a…