United States v. Flores-Montano
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| United States v. Flores-Montano | |
| Court | Supreme Court of the United States |
|---|---|
| Citation | |
| Date decided | March 30, 2004 |
Facts
A smuggler named Flores-Montano ("Flores") was driving a 1987 Ford Taurus station with a large amount of marijuana in his car's gas tank. A California customs agent hammered off a sealed section of the gas tank whereupon he found 80 pounds of marijuana.
Holding
"The reasons that might support a requirement of some level of suspicion in the case of highly intrusive searches of the person--dignity and privacy interests of the person being searched--simply do not carry over to vehicles."
Judgment
The search of the car was routine.
