People v. BLARDONY

Opinion

PARRILLI, J.

If a customs agent violates an administrative regulation by conducting a random search of mail from a foreign country, does the

[793]

exclusionary rule require suppression of contraband found in the package? No; the United States Constitution does not prohibit random border searches of incoming international mail, nor is there any legislative provision for the exclusion of evidence recovered by customs agents in this manner. Therefore, such evidence is admissible in California courts.

After his motion to suppress evidence was denied, Mauro Miguel Blardony pleaded no contest to a charge of possessing methamphetamine for sale, while personally armed with a firearm. On appeal, he renews his claims that the evidence against him was illegally obtained and should have been suppressed. We affirm the judgment.

Background

On March 26, 1997, a customs inspector randomly opened and searched a Federal Express package from the Philippines addressed to “Miguel Blardony” at an apartment in Daly City. The commercial invoice stated the package contained a karaoke tape of children and family pictures. However, the inspector discovered a crystalline substance inside. A “presumptive test” on the substance yielded a positive result for methamphetamine. The substance was sent to a customs forensic laboratory for further analysis, which verified that it was methamphetamine, weighing about 30 grams.

On March 27, a customs agent turned the package over to Daly City Police Detective Julian Agustín. Agustín went to the address written on the package and saw the name “Blardony” next to the doorbell for the apartment number on the package. He ran a Department of Motor Vehicles check on the name “Miguel Blardony” without finding a match. On two occasions, Agustín tried to deliver the package to Blardony’s apartment, but no one answered the doorbell. On March 31, Agustín applied for a search warrant, stating his training and experience led him to believe the crystal methamphetamine in the package was a bulk shipment that a dealer would break up into smaller packets for sale. He stated that other controlled substances, transaction records, cash, and firearms are typically kept in dealers’ residences, and he believed Blardony was involved in a conspiracy to sell methamphetamine. The magistrate issued a search warrant, and officers found drugs, drug paraphernalia, and firearms in Blardony’s apartment on March 31, 1997.