Supreme Court gives border agents broader authority to search cars in effort to stop smuggling.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court gave government agents broader authority yesterday to search and even dismantle cars' gas tanks in their battle against smuggling at the nation's borders.
Several times a day, people are caught at the California-Mexico border with drugs in their gas tanks, justices said. And at least several times a month, people are found in the tanks.

The court was unanimous in giving border officers permission to randomly search gas tanks, despite the absence of specific indication that a particular car is suspect. People crossing the border have less expectation of privacy than elsewhere, and searching the inner reaches of a car is not the same thing as a strip search or other intrusive search of the driver, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court.

He said officers may disassemble the tanks, then put them back together if nothing is found. The interference, Rehnquist said, "is justified by the government's paramount interest in protecting the border."

A federal appeals court in California had said officers can visually inspect gas tanks, but not dismantle them unless they have reason to suspect wrongdoing.

Critics, including the White House, had argued that the lower court decision would make it easier to sneak weapons, drugs and people into America. Lawyers on the other side argued that it's unconstitutionally intrusive and potentially hazardous for vehicles to be taken apart at border stops.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote separately yesterday to say that the government has statistics about border stops, which can be used to address concerns about gas tank searches.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Manuel Flores-Montano, whose station wagon was searched at the Otay Mesa Port in California in February 2002. After a mechanic removed the wagon's tank, officers found about 81 pounds of marijuana.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the government could not use the marijuana as evidence because the search was unconstitutional.