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14 Whittier L. Rev. 613 (1993)
Unchecked Discretion, the Buck Stops Here: Is There a Fourth Amendment at the International Borders of the United States

handle is hein.journals/whitlr14 and id is 625 raw text is: UNCHECKED DISCRETION, THE BUCK STOPS HERE: IS THERE A FOURTH AMENDMENT AT THE INTERNATIONAL BORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES? ARTHUR J. KYRIAZIS & HARRY M. CALDWELL* INTRODUCTION In April of 1990, the Exodus Team of the United States Cus- toms Office at Philadelphia International Airport conducted a buck- stop operation' and surreptitiously searched the luggage of a passenger bound for Brussels, Belgium. The passenger was targeted because he was black, had a Nigerian-sounding name, spoke with a Nigerian accent, and was bound for Brussels.2 The search revealed over a quarter of a million dollars in cash in violation of federal law.3 This search of Vincent 0. Ezeiruaku, an American citizen with an engineering degree from an American university, raises several fun- damental questions. Does the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution exist at the international borders of the United * Arthur J. Kyriazis, a practicing attorney in Philadelphia, PA., represented Mr. Ezeiruaku at the district and appellate court levels. Harry M. Caldwell is a Professor of Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. 1. United States v. Ezeiruaku, 754 F. Supp. 420, 422 (E.D. Pa. 1990). Buckstop opera- tions, according to testimony taken from U.S. Customs Officials, are apparently widespread and are conducted by the United States Customs Services at airports with respect to international outbound passengers and flights. Flights, once targeted by a buckstop team, are then further reviewed for passengers to target for secret searches based upon subjective factors such as desti- nation, ethnicity or foreign origin of last names. The targeted passenger's luggage is simply searched in secret. In Ezeiruaku's case, the customs official(s) testified at the suppression hearing that he was initially targeted because his last name was Nigerian in origin, and Nigerians are known to be disproportionately involved in money laundering. See infra notes 67 et seq. and accompanying text, passim. 2. Id. 3. Id. at 424.

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