Opinion ID: 498049
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The First Surveillance Effort

Text: 2 In August 1986, a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent in Queens, New York was investigating a man for suspected drug trafficking. The agent observed the subject of his investigation dialing numbers on a pay telephone and then hanging up, in such a manner as to suggest to the agent that the man was making phone calls to beepers. The agent testified that in his experience, calling beepers is a very common practice among narcotics dealers. A second man then drove up to the location under surveillance in a white Volkswagen Beetle that was in immaculate condition and had New Jersey license plates. The driver got out, briefly spoke with the man who had been placing the telephone calls, and then returned to his car and drove away. Shortly thereafter a third man arrived at the scene and spoke for a few minutes with the man who had been making the telephone calls, and the two men exchanged packages. The agent concluded from these observations that some type of narcotics transaction had taken place, although no arrests were made at that time.