Politics & Government
Coke Bust Suspect Alleges State Police Violated His Rights
An accused drug trafficker is charging that the State Police violated his rights by tracking his car via GPS without a warrant.
A California man accused of trafficking drugs into Rhode Island from Mexico is now saying that evidence seized by the State Police should be thrown out.
Andrew Rios was . The raid seized 66 kilograms of cocaine and roughly $1.2 million in cash – one of the largest drug busts in state history.
Though the other two men arrested in the raid (Adilson Antonio Reyes of Utah and Rodrigo Armanda Saucedo of California) , Rios is challenging the federal and state governments' case against him. According to Rios, the State Police violated his rights by tracking his car via GPS without a warrant and thus evidence obtained based on that GPS tracking should be thrown out.
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As the Providence Journal reports, there is a recent precedent for Rios' argument. This past January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled GPS tracking requires a warrant. The case stemmed from the conviction of a D.C. night club owner on charges of possession of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute. Authorities had attached a GPS device on the man's car (without a warrant) during the investigation.
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