People v. Robinson — 163 A.D.2d 428

Majority

p. 428

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Diana Robinson, Appellant.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Pitaro, J.), rendered August 15, 1989, convicting her of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, upon her plea of guilty, and imposing sentence. The appeal brings up for review the denial, after a hearing, of that branch of the defendant’s omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence.

Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

A package containing cocaine was seized from the defendant as a result of a United States Customs inspector’s thorough pat-down search of her in a private room in the Customs area of John F. Kennedy International airport. This airport search was the functional equivalent of a border search (see, People v McKeown, 146 AD2d 716 , 717). A Customs inspector who performs a thorough pat-down search as part of her border-patrolling activities must have some suspicion of criminal activity justifying the intrusion, which "need only be real and

p. 429

based upon legitimate factors” (People v Luna, 73 NY2d 173 , 179). In this case, the defendant was traveling alone, without any checked luggage, and had disembarked from a flight originating in Jamaica—a country known to be a source of illegal drugs. The defendant informed the Customs inspector that she would only be staying in New York for 3 or 4 days and her passport revealed that she had made a prior trip from Jamaica within a relatively short period of time. The defendant was also in a hurry to leave the Customs area and appeared nervous to the eye of a well-trained, experienced Customs inspector. This conduct furnished the Customs inspector with a bona fide, articulable suspicion, justifying the minimally intrusive pat-down search leading to the discovery of the drugs (see, People v Luna, supra; People v Rivera, 143 AD2d 783 ; People v Materon, 107 AD2d 408 ).

We have reviewed the defendant’s remaining contention and find it to be without merit. Mangano, P. J., Bracken, Rubin and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.

Cases cited

People v. McKeown 146 AD2d 716 N.Y. App. Div. 1989-01-23 at 717 p. 428
People v. Luna 73 NY2d 173 N.Y. 1989-02-21 at 179 p. 429
People v. Rivera 143 AD2d 783 N.Y. App. Div. 1988-10-11 p. 429
People v. Materon 107 AD2d 408 N.Y. App. Div. 1985-03-25 p. 429