People v. Noorzin

199 A.D.2d 69, 605 N.Y.S.2d 37, 1993 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 11719

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Felice Shea, J.), rendered February 21, 1992, convicting defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, and sentencing him to a term of 15 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

The custom official’s suspicion that defendant smuggled contraband was "real and based upon legitimate factors” (People v Luna, 73 NY2d 173, 179), including defendant’s conversation with another suspected smuggler, and his arrival from a country known for growing and exporting heroin (see, supra, at 180). There then was a sufficient legal basis for the custom authority to drill holes into the wooden slats of a crate and discover the hidden heroin. Concur—Sullivan, J. P., Carro, Wallach and Asch, JJ.