Toddler Leads Deputies To 1,700 Pounds Of Pot

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Vernal45

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TheNewMexicoChannel.com


UPDATED: 1:21 pm MDT May 20, 2005

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputies found nearly a ton of pot at a home, thanks to a toddler and an OnStar in-vehicle safety and security system.

The Albuquerque Journal reported Friday that a 2-year-old boy who was locked in his father's Cadillac Escalade in southeast Albuquerque pushed the OnStar button in the car for help. The device not only can guide a motorist to a location, it can also unlock doors and call for help.

Officials responded to the OnStar alert, and when deputies arrived, they became suspicious when they found a large trailer in the garage.

Inside the trailer, deputies found 1,700 pounds of marijuana worth more than a half-million dollars.

Four men were arrested and are now in federal custody on drug trafficking charges, deputies said.

Copyright 2005 by TheNewMexicoChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Just how did BCSO get access to the trailer? Did the 2 year-old give them permission? Something tells me this one is going to get tossed, with vigor! Of course, details are lacking in the story, so who knows.
 
> when deputies arrived, they became suspicious when they found a large trailer in the garage.

Say what?
 
YAY, cops have now siezed another large shipment of one of the most harmless and safe drugs known to man. Countless pizzas and bags of Doritos are now safe from this substance.

/Must be depressing enforcing drug laws, knowing that you're work solves nothing and is essentially useless.
//"War on Drugs", doing more damage than drugs since 1938.
 
In other news, BCSO search the home attached to the garage after becoming suspicious of what experts term "a connecting door."

BCSO points out the fact that both the garage and the house have what is known as a "roof" as further basis for their suspicions. "Frankly that 'floor' thing is a bit questionable, too," said a spokesperson for the Sheriff's office.

Um..if the reasonable man saw a trailer in a garage or outside in the driveway, would he really find it all that suspicious? Where else are you going to put a trailer?
 
OK, tryig not to get dragged into the whole legalize drug issue. But how does a large trailer justify a search? Unless somone was dumb enough to consent to one.
 
My guess would be the large trailer was not only what made them suspicious. Have you ever smelled that much marijuana in one place. The whole garage probably reeked from it.

It is truly amusing how much credence some of you will give to a news report when you can use it to slam law enforcement or try to make them look like goons but, if the same newspaper and same reporter said something negative about second amendment rights you would be calling it something akin to yellow journalism or just another ultra leftist lib rag!

Best regards,
Glenn B
 
Glenn has it right. That much marijuana must have made the place smell like - well, this is a family forum, so I won't use the comparison I first thought of! :D

Anyway, with that odor in place, it's ample probable cause for the cops to search the (already-open) garage. They might also have called in a dog to check the area, and the dog would have alerted on the trailer. I don't foresee any legal problems for the cops on this one.

Moral of the story: if you're going to smuggle drugs, don't have kids! :D
 
All the armchair cops and backyard lawyers strike yet again, quickly to discount the search as illegal without any information or any experience beyond bashing LEO efforts on this board.

First I agree with the others, 1700 pounds of weed locked up in a trailer during the late spring early summer in the heat would knock you down.

I recently seized 30 ounces which is a little over a pound and the smell of it was very powerful and it had been riding inside an air-conditioned SUV for about an hour according to the driver.

Now, the cops had a legal reason to be on the property, they were most likely looking for parents and might have entered the garage to knock on a door and the smell was more than likely overwhelming.

The US Supreme Court as continuously held that a sniff is a sniff, just like a dog a cop can indicate to the presence of narcotics when he/she smells it.

If I walk up to your car on a lawful traffic stop and smell weed, guess what, I can search it. I have done this many times, found plenty of weeds and never had a case tossed either.

If I have a lawful reason to be in or around your house and smell the same, the same applies.

The courts have continuously held there is no right to privacy from a free air sniff.
 
While I completely disagree with the laws surrounding cannibus and find the concept of preventing me from handling or possessing something that is as natural as the grass on my lawn. (which in most cases is most unnatural) I have to agree with thefederalistweasel on this one.

The smell had to be the reason they suspected the trailer.
I'm sure no sign of parents around with a 2yo locked in a truck is a sign of the parental skills.

Even though I disagree with the illegal state of cannibus, I would agree with an officers power to search a vehicle that smells of pot..(assuming they were pulled over for a legitimate reason) the same as if he smelled whisky.
A legal user (hypothetically if it were legal)of cannibus should never have to have it in their car.. unless transporting a small personal amount. Which would not smell up the car if handled properly. Just as transporting a bottle of whisky won't smell if you don't consume it or open it.

I could go on with why I think it should be legal... just think if users grew their own then they wouldn't be supporting the drug trade across our pourous border. Since I would venture to say a majority of the cannibus that is imported is from Mexico followed by Canada. The rest is grown within this country. But that's a discussion best left for the APS forum
 
Ah, didn't know that it smelled. I would guess that smell gives them probable cause to search. I was just hung up over the trailer in the garage gave them probable cause thing.
 
Seems to me if the owners of the SUV had a handle on that kid, instead
of leaving him untended in the first place, they more n likely wouldn't
be in the mess they're in..Gumps' rule..Stupid is as stupid does.
 
TFW: wasn't questioning that there may have been probable cause, just the phrasing of the article was kinda whack. Remember, when trailers are outlawed, only outlaws will have trailers. :p
 
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I admit to finding the entire story hilarious. :D

If the parents had not left the child in the truck during a heat wave they would not have been busted.

The things happening around here while I am too busy to pay attention... :)
 
So basically most of you think that if a cop smells something suspicious wafting out of your house he should be able to search the premises without a warrant?
 
There wasn't nearly enough information in that story to even guess at the reason for the search, yet some are still taking the opportunity to debate with nothing more than WAGs as basis for their rants.

giant_rolleyes.gif
 
"30 ounces which is a little over a pound"

I demand a recount. :D

You know, it was probably the scale and the 27,000 baggies that gave them away.

I'd also think that the police would look around for an adult - mom could be passed out on the kitchen floor and unable to answer the door. You gotta find them before you can charge them with child endangerment.

If they were dealing nickel bags they'd need about a million baggies or so.
I learned a lot working at the VA inpatient treatment center in grad school.

John
 
i HATE the papers- why couldnt they give us a little mroe detail about the trialer- there was probably a GOod reason it became suspicious, like it was a very odd type trailer or something.

if none of you had guessed by now, I LIKE POT. ha ha and it's LEGAL for me!

BUT= screw these anti American dirtbags.
GET THAT garbage mexican weed out of here.
BUY AMERICAN!! Mexcian drugs support all kinds of horrible behavior.

also, i dont support these pot clubs or large scale dealers making $$$$$$$$$$$$
like this. the clubs especially- the pot law here doesnt actually provide for privately run clubs, but they exist as long as they pay the city.
 
DMF said:
There wasn't nearly enough information in that story to even guess at the reason for the search, yet some are still taking the opportunity to debate with nothing more than WAGs as basis for their rants.
Click to expand...

So then you're saying the police, as long as they have a really good reason, should be able to search your house without a warrant.
 
So then you're saying the police, as long as they have a really good reason, should be able to search your house without a warrant.
Click to expand...
Talk about putting words in someone's mouth. I never said anything of the sort, nor was it implied by my statement.

My post neither claimed the search was legally justified, nor did it claim it was not. I simply pointed out there was too little information to even hazard a guess about the reason for the search. I can think of many scenarios where the search would be legal, and many where it would not, however with no details at all to go on, any argument defending or condemning the search are pointless.
 
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