THE seizure and search of Yuzhu Zhang’s vehicle was lawful, Assistant Attorney General Steven Kessel said in response to the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence.
Zhang has been accused of attempting to smuggle from California, through mail, 4.9 pounds of methamphetamine. The seized contraband has a street value of approximately $700,000, authorities said.
Zhang, 48, was charged with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance. He has denied the charges.
Zhang is represented by Assistant Public Defender Vina Seelam who requested the court to suppress any evidence discovered as a result of the search of her client’s vehicle and any observations by the police during and after the search of his vehicle.
Kessel, for his part, has asked the Superior Court to deny Zhang’s motion to suppress evidence.
According to Kessel, CNMI Customs Service officers were operating within the jurisdictional parameters of 6 CMC 2304 at the time of the defendant’s arrest and search of his vehicle.
“Customs Service retained jurisdiction despite the package in question no longer containing suspected contraband at the time of defendant’s detention and search of his vehicle,” Kessel said.
Moreover, he said the defendant’s detention and search occurred within 72 hours after the arrival into the Commonwealth of the suspected contraband in the package.
“The container holding the contraband was subjected to constant surveillance by the Customs Service from the point of entry into the Commonwealth,” Kessel said.
Once a lawful arrest was made, Kessel said, officers had reason to believe that evidence of the crime for which the defendant was arrested was in Zhang’s Toyota Yaris.
“In fact, the subsequent search of the Yaris yielded precisely that — evidence relevant to the crime for which he was being arrested — in the form of 19 individual bags of suspected methamphetamine weighing 26.3 gross grams and $4,239 in small denominations,” Kessel said.
He added that confessions made while the defendant was in custodial interrogation are admissible when the government establishes that, under the totality of the circumstances, the defendant “intelligently, knowingly, and voluntarily” waived his or her rights.
The jury trial for Zhang has been scheduled for Sept. 26, 2022.
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has imposed a $1 million cash bail on the defendant who is currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
Zhang, through an interpreter, told police investigators that an unknown male offered him $100 to pick up a large parcel of Chinaware in a Garapan postal service and to bring it to the back of a gas station on Beach Road.
Zhang also stated that the $4,239 in cash found inside his vehicle was his but not the 19 small clear plastic bags containing methamphetamine that weighed 26.3 grams.
Investigators stated that the cash and meth found in Zhang’s vehicle were strong indications that he was a drug distributor and trafficker.
