Opinion ID: 2761210
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mail-Order Marijuana

Text: In late 2008, Abraham Licon mailed six parcels containing marijuana from El Paso, Texas, to Christopher Jacobs in Atlanta, Georgia. In January 2009, at Jacobs’s direction, Licon sent a seventh parcel, this time to St. Croix, containing approximately 25 pounds of marijuana. On January 30, 2009, James Semrick, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), learned of the last parcel. He sought the assistance of United States Postal Inspector Steve Stebbins, who informed him that the parcel would be delivered to Mailboxes ‘N More in St. Croix on January 31, 2009. Stebbins also shared with Semrick a copy of the parcel’s shipping label, which listed “Luis Castillo” as the intended recipient. (App. at 399, 500.) On the designated date, Semrick set up visual surveillance of Mailboxes ‘N More and awaited delivery of the parcel. At 11:30 a.m., Garvey made his appearance. The surveillance team observed him conversing with Daren Henry, the owner of Mailboxes ‘N More. During the conversation, Garvey told Henry that he was expecting a parcel 2 from his uncle. He gave Henry a tracking number to identify the parcel and requested notification when it arrived. As requested, a worker at Mailboxes ‘N More called Garvey when the parcel was there. Garvey told the worker that he would send “Lando” to pick it up. At about 1 p.m., Orlando Carino arrived at Mailboxes ‘N More, picked up a large box, exited the store, and placed it in the rear of his vehicle. Following as Carino drove away, Semrick eventually pulled him over. With Carino’s consent, Semrick searched Carino’s vehicle and found the parcel, which, with the tracking number that Stebbins had provided, Semrick verified was the one addressed to Luis Castillo. Then, again with Carino’s consent, Semrick opened the parcel and found two five-gallon buckets containing marijuana sealed in Saran Wrap and packaged in El Paso Times newspaper. At trial, Stebbins testified that parcels requiring delivery confirmation are labeled with unique tracking numbers that enable customers to track on the internet where their parcels are in the mail stream. He also testified that, using a reverse internet protocol search system, postal inspectors can detect which internet protocol (“IP”) address has been used to track a particular package. After employing such a search, Stebbins learned that IP address 208.84.199.158, the address which was assigned to Garvey’s computer, was used nine times to track the parcel delivered to Mailboxes ‘N More on January 31, 2009. 3