Padilla-Noriega

MEMORANDUM *

Marcelo Padilla-Noriega appeals his conviction for the importation and possession of 16.4 pounds of heroin discovered in his car’s brake power boost assembly at a border checkpoint. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

Padilla claims the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the heroin because the heroin was the fruit of an illegal arrest and because it was the product of an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment. The district court’s denial of a motion to suppress is reviewed de novo. United States v. Okafor, 285 F.3d 842, 845 (9th Cir.2002).

A. The search was not the fruit of an unlawful arrest.

Even assuming that the detention constituted an illegal arrest, the heroin need not be suppressed because the detention had nothing to do with the discovery of heroin in the car. United States v. Martell, 654 F.2d 1356 (9th Cir.1981)(cert. denied 463 U.S. 1213 , 103 S.Ct. 3551 , 77 L.Ed.2d 1397 (1983)). Padilla was placed in a holding cell and there is no suggestion that the agents responsible for searching the vehicle had any contact with Padilla while he was being held. The…