Last Saturday in Philadelphia, twenty pounds of cocaine were seized by customs at the Philadelphia International Airport. By any account, this is a very large amount of cocaine. In this situation, the cocaine does not appear to have been taken from any single person, but rather from bags found in the cargo hold.
This raises the important question as to what to do when you are searched by customs officials. We must understand that our regular constitutional rights and freedom from being searched do not apply in an airport setting. No one has a constitutional right to board an airplane and therefore one must comply with the safety standards. Obviously, the best way not to be stopped with contraband when coming on or off an airplane is to make sure that one never has contraband. Sometimes, however, people mistakenly leave certain things in their luggage. (more…)
