see also: in March 2004:   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 273 Pounds of Cocaine   CBP Border Patrol Agents Rescue Twenty-two civilians in Kyrgyzstan   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 2,800 Pounds of Marijuana   CBP Border Patrol Seizes Over 2,800 Pounds of Marijuana   CBP Border Patrol Seizes $2.5 Million in Drugs   San Ysidro Port of Entry to Test New Procedure For Issuance of I-94 Permits to Mexican Travelers. ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Washington, D.C.-- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner today hailed the Supreme Court ruling upholding CBP officers and agents authority to disassemble and thereby search a vehicle's gas tank for terrorist weapons, drugs, and other contraband, without the need to obtain a warrant or probable cause.

Commissioner Bonner, a former federal judge, called the unanimous opinion, "a forceful and reasoned reaffirmation of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's border search authority which is a cornerstone in our nation's ability to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering this country."

The case involved the inspection of a station wagon driven by Manuel Flores-Montano at the Otay Mesa port of entry near San Diego, California. A Customs inspector, utilizing his border search authority, searched the vehicle's gas tank by disassembling it, and found 37 kilograms of marijuana. Flores-Montano was indicted on drug trafficking charges.

A federal judge ruled and was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that the seized marijuana could not be used as evidence in the case, and that the search of the gas tank violated the Fourth Amendment.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's ruling. Chief Justice Rehnquist, in his opinion stated that "the government's interest in preventing the unwanted entry of person's and effects is at its zenith at the international border," an opinion strongly seconded by Commissioner Bonner. "Now, more than ever before in our history, the need to secure our borders is basic to the safety of the United States. Terrorist weapons and terrorists have to come here to harm us, and Customs and Border Protection has the mission to stop them. "The Supreme Court's strong opinion reaffirms the broad legal authority we need to accomplish our mission," Commissioner Bonner stated.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the protection of our nation's borders. CBP unified Customs, Immigration, and Agriculture Inspectors and the Border Patrol into one border agency for the United States.