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  1. #1
    Senior Member Paige's Avatar
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    Heroin charges tossed

    Could it be that the corporations are paying off the judges as well as the politicans? Food for thought.

    http://www.ocregister.com/news/agents-h ... eim-search

    Heroin charges tossed
    Government dismisses case against two brothers in California's largest heroin seizure. Two others admit role in drug-trafficking operation.
    By KIMBERLY EDDS
    The Orange County Register

    SANTA ANA - Federal charges against two Mexican brothers arrested in the largest seizure of heroin in California history were dropped Tuesday, a month after a judge ruled the search that recovered the nearly $6 million in drugs violated the U.S. Constitution. Two others admitted their role in the drug-trafficking operation and are awaiting sentencing.

    The Valentine's Day raid grabbed national headlines. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials boasted of uncovering a drug-trafficking operation that ran millions of dollars worth of heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine through an Anaheim neighborhood and into the hands of U.S. buyers. All four men are suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

    U.S. District Court Judge James Selna, appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush, delivered a crippling blow to the government's case against two of the defendants, ruling in July that the drugs, the government's main evidence, could not be admitted in the trafficking case against brothers Jairo Ivan Ortiz-Diaz and Jose Luis Ortiz-Diaz because the search conducted without a warrant violated the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure.

    "To me, the issue is a rule of law and it won," said attorney Joel Levine, who represents Jairo Ivan Ortiz-Diaz.

    Defense lawyers' search and seizure motions, especially in seizures involving such large amounts of drugs, are rarely granted, legal experts say. Without the drugs, federal prosecutors filed papers Monday to dismiss the charges against the brothers, who will now go through deportation proceedings.

    The trafficking operation began to unravel when federal agents at the San Ysidro border crossing stopped a Honda Civic with nearly 12 kilos of Mexican heroin in a hidden compartment. The driver, Benny Bahena, said the haul was destined for Anaheim, ICE agents wrote in court papers.

    Agents co-opted Bahena and followed him to an Anaheim parking lot where he met up with Luis Alcantar- Zepeda, 28 and Jose Casares-Macias, 22, and then drove the drugs to an Anaheim house and pulled into the garage, ICE agents said.

    There was no time or need to get a warrant– by phone or by e-mail, prosecutors argued. The safety of Bahena and the 12 kilos of heroin were in jeopardy. Agents moved in, rounding up the four men, two women and five children. The two sisters – who rented the house - said agents could search.

    Agents pulled 121 pounds of heroin, 34 pounds of marijuana and 3 pounds of methamphetamine, along with $3,500 in cash, out of laundry hampers, hall closets and cabinets – all without a warrant.

    The children were placed in protective custody. The six adults were arrested. The women were later released.

    The drug deliveryman, Bahena, a 24-year-old U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty in federal court and is awaiting sentencing.

    Attorneys for the Ortiz-Diaz brothers argued in court papers the men had been staying at the Anaheim home and had a "reasonable expectation to privacy" guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. There was no threat, such as death or the destruction of evidence, which would allow agents to go in without a warrant, attorneys John Early and Levine argued.

    The attorneys also argued the consents given by the two women might not have been voluntary and were therefore invalid.

    Alcantar-Zepeda and Casares-Macias, who helped unload drugs from the Honda, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to possess heroin for sale. They also face deportation proceedings after they serve their prison sentences.
    <div>''Life's tough......it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
    -- John Wayne</div>

  2. #2
    GS07's Avatar
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    Too bad boxer and pelosy don't understand how illegal aliens destroy our communities.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Paige's Avatar
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    Illegals give her money by working for her. She does not care if they bring heroin in.

    Follow the money you will find Pelosi. She should be in prison for this. She is voting for something that directly benefits her. This is a crime in the United States.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2006/11/14/v ... -vineyard/

    http://www.capoliticalnews.com/s/spip.php?article13

    Why is Nancy Pelosi not in Prison?
    <div>''Life's tough......it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
    -- John Wayne</div>

  4. #4
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    Boy I am confused. I didn't think they had to have a warrant for something like that.

    Boy, it looks like our government is going to be sure that drug corridor is kept open, and protected - by hook or by crook.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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