CNN.com – Police find marijuana stashed in coffins – Dec 15, 2004 — What bull. A guy is pulled over for slightly speeding and instead of giving him a ticket they search the cargo with dogs. Talk about a set-up! But here the story is told as if it was routine. Happens all the time! I think it’s great that drug traffickers are caught. But can we have some real reporting! This is a cock-and-bull story. The coffins are a nice touch, though.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (Reuters) — A routine traffic stop turned into a drug bust when Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers found 610 pounds of marijuana stashed in four coffins.
Authorities say Timothy Hynd and Robert Dean Harper were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute before being released on Monday.
The arrest occurred on Sunday, highway patrol spokesman Lt. Brandon Kopepasah said, after troopers stopped a truck traveling slightly above the speed limit near the rural city of Salisaw.
The men consented to a search, and trained dogs “hit” on the cargo section of the truck, he said.
via K. Burel
People need to learn their rights. If they cannot give you a probable cause or a plain-view search does not turn up anything in your vehicle, then they cannot search it. Now if the vehicle was reeking of cannabis, I could understand it. You don’t have to consent to a search if they cannot provide a reason. (Note: slightly over the speed limit doesn’t count)
It always amuses me when these people consent to a search.
It happens on the TV show cops all the time. “Can we look in the trunk?” “yeah” Wow… look at all the guns!
I think the “bad guys” figure that if they say no it’s suspicious, and maybe the cops are just testing them, and won’t really want to search.
In a related note, in about 1998 my dad was driving up the 101 between SF and Oregon, and got stopped for going 70. The cop said if he lets him search the car then no speeding ticket.
My dad consented (he had nothing, and I wasn’t in the car to stop him), but when I heard the story I was aghast. I would have taken the ticket and complained to whoever I could. It just doesn’t seem right.
marijuana is great! it helps with medical problems and i love it!
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