United States v. Sergio Ramon Marquez

Sergio Ramon Marquez was randomly selected for secondary security screening at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and found to be in possession of two kilograms of cocaine lodged underneath his pants. He challenges the denial of his motion to suppress the evidence obtained during this administrative airport search. He questions whether an airport screening procedure subjecting passengers to a handheld magnetometer wand scan, in addition to the standard walkthrough magnetometer and x-ray luggage scan, is constitutionally reasonable where the passenger is randomly selected for more intrusive screening upon or before entering the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”) security checkpoint. We hold that this random, additional screening procedure is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of Marquez’s motion to suppress.

I

On the afternoon of October 3, 2002, Marquez attempted to board a domestic flight to Anchorage from Seattle. After checking in for his flight, he proceeded to the TSA security checkpoint where he was diverted to Checkpoint B, the “selectee lane.” A passenger chosen for the selectee lane is subjected to…