United States v. Jorge Andres Verduzco

We must decide whether a defendant who drove a marijuana-laden sports utility vehicle into the United States from Mexico was validly convicted of illegal drug importation, notwithstanding a vigorous defense of duress.

I

On the morning of March 22, 2002, Jorge Andres Verduzco drove a Ford Explorer packed with 52.20 kilograms of marijuana from Mexico into the United States. Verduzco made it no further than the San Ysidro, California Port of Entry, where he immediately aroused the suspicions of border inspectors and their drug detector dog. Thirty-six packages of marijuana were discovered hidden throughout the sport utility vehicle.

Verduzco, a United States citizen and Los Angeles resident, was arrested at the Port of Entry. After receiving Miranda warnings, Verduzco admitted knowing that his vehicle was loaded with marijuana. He also described what had led him to make the smuggling attempt. Verduzco was raised in Tijuana, Mexico, where his parents still live. While visiting them a week earlier, he had met an unidentified Hispanic man at a store there. The two men had struck up a conversation, and Verduzco had confided some financial difficulties, which arose in part from his…