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Breaking: Bad news for Phoenix man charged with trying to fly pound of meth into Boston
By adamg on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 3:25pm
A Phoenix man who may have been a repeat meth trafficker was arrested yesterday in a Logan Airport men's room with a pound of meth in a checked bag, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
State Police already had their eye on alleged meth dealer Micah Gibson, 38, when he arrived on a Delta flight at Terminal A yesterday morning, the DA's office reports:
Gibson retrieved a checked bag from the baggage carousel and went into the men’s room, where a surveillance officer observed him allegedly tearing the tags off of it. Additional troopers and agents approached him as he exited the men’s room and inquired about his travel plans. Based on responses that they believed were inconsistent and evasive, they read Gordon his Miranda rights.
After advising him of his rights, troopers and agents sought Gibson’s consent to search his bags. Gibson granted it and signed a consent form. During a hand search, troopers and agents recovered 448 grams of a white, crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine wrapped in bubble wrap inside a FedEx envelope. At that point he was placed under arrest.
An East Boston Municipal Court judge set bail at $75,000 on a count of trafficking in more than 200 grams of methamphetamine and ordered him to surrender his passport and wear a GPS device. Prosecutors had asked for $150,000 bail.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Wow
Stupid. right IN the airport.
Criminals are not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree sometimes...
PS - Nice headline LOL
Why this
So if he causally and calmly told the police he was in town to visit his brother who lives in Milton and was hoping to catch a Sox game before heading home they would have let him go? Why ask him anything beyond informing him that, in accordance with TSA and MassPort regulations, they have decided to search his bag.
easier
In the airport and already under surveillance you are correct that they could have searched his stuff at any time.
That said, it's way easier for them if you can get the dummy to waive rights and consent to a search. Right there he is admitting the bag is his and the contents are his responsibility. Open and shut. Easy case with fewer awkward questions.
The DEA has been known to hide the sources of their intelligence by instructing agents to build a parallel evidence trail constructed "legally" or "cleanly" that allows them to prosecute without admitting that the actual source intelligence came from a different US agency, the illegal phone call database, a warrantless wiretap, an informant they want to protect, one of those surveillance/stingray craft they fly over US cities etc.
Hell they flat out withdraw from prosecution if it looks like they'd have to admit a stingray device was used and there are DEA intelligence units that will drop or walk away from a case if it looks like their sources or methods would be exposed to the public.
If the cops were tipped off and already watching the guy then the info had to come from somewhere. Maybe an informant or maybe an undercover agent. Maybe an awkward not-super-legal wiretap. By getting the dude to consent to a search now all they have to do is tell the public that "our amazing local LEOs noticed a guy acting strangely; contact was made and the gentleman consented to a search..." -- greatly reducing the need/pressure to explain exactly HOW this guy came to be watched in the first place
I thought the TSA and Logan
I thought the TSA and Logan Airport pretend all suspicionless searches are voluntary, and that you choose to consent to them in exchange for the privilege of flying. If you decline, you can choose to leave the airport.
Drugs are bad, I guess, but
Drugs are bad, I guess, but this one is epic dumb.
Meth has never been known
to enhance intelligence.
Flying in a Big Air Liner
But don't touch my bags if you please
Mister Customs Man