ASSISTANT U.S. Attorney Garth Backe told the federal court that he will exclude evidence obtained by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force agents in hotel Room 339 in the trial of Shuo Qiu.
Qiu, who was charged with drug trafficking and firearms possession, has accused the DEA of unlawful search and seizure.
The defendant, also known as “Ike,” claims that he was a cooperating informer of the Department of Public Safety-Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Through his attorney Robert T. Torres, Qiu has asked the District Court for the NMI to suppress and exclude evidence obtained by the authorities during his arrest in January 2020 at a hotel.
According to Torres, the search warrant issued for Room No. 639, where the defendant had been staying, lacked probable cause for its issuance, and the items seized as a result of the illegal search must be excluded.
Torres said police also searched another hotel room, No. 339, without a warrant, “and the evidence seized therefrom must be excluded.”
Police performed the warrantless search without any applicable exception to the warrant requirement, all in violation of Qiu’s constitutional rights, Torres added.
In response to the defendant’s motion to suppress and exclude evidence, Backe said, in an abundance of caution, the U.S. government will not seek to introduce evidence obtained from Room 339 at trial.
According to the prosecutor, he has met with officers that took part in the search of the two hotel rooms on January 12, 2022.
Based on those meetings, Backe said it appears that Juhua Wang, the defendant’s girlfriend, provided information to one of the officers that, arguably, should have raised questions about her ability to provide lawful consent.
“In particular, Wang told the officer (through an interpreter) that, although the room [339] was in her name, defendant had rented it for his father. Wang also said the room was paid for with defendant’s money. However, this officer — who was questioning Wang to assess the situation, not to determine whether she possessed the authority to consent — did not relay what Wang had said to the other officer that subsequently obtained her written consent to search the room.”
Given these unique facts, as well as the law pertaining to consent, Backe said the U.S. government has decided against arguing that Wang’s consent was lawful.
“The risks simply outweigh the rewards,” he added.
As to the probable cause to search Room 639, Backe said probable cause was sufficiently established through four uncontroverted facts:
• Defendant was arrested for selling methamphetamine on June 18, 2020;
• Although purportedly “cooperating” with local law enforcement, defendant had, on five separate occasions, turned over methamphetamine in violation of his cooperation agreement;
• Defendant had been staying in Room #639 for close to a month and had paid approximately $5,130 in cash; and
• After defendant had vacated other rooms at the Hyatt, housekeeping found numerous Ziploc style baggies, suspected to be used for drugs.
On Jan. 12, 2022, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the CNMI Drug Enforcement Task Force executed a search warrant and seized 1.6 pounds of methamphetamine, an undetermined amount of cash, and two handguns with ammunition from Qiu in his hotel room where he had been staying for the past six months.
Qiu was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (methamphetamine), and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Qiu, in a freely given statement to the DEA, and through an interpreter, stated that he was mainly supplied by two people who would give him between 100 grams and 500 grams, depending on how his sales had been.
Qiu also said that “he has more local customers than anyone on island.”
