Criminal Defense Lawyers

Federal Drug Charges at Port of Entry

Ninety percent of fentanyl seizures happen at official ports of entry – not in the desert between ports, not at the wall, but through the legal crossing points where millions of vehicles pass daily. You drive up to a CBP checkpoint. An officer directs you to secondary inspection. Your vehicle gets X-rayed. A drug dog walks by. They find something hidden in your car – maybe something you knew about, maybe something you didn’t. Within hours, you’re facing federal importation charges with mandatory minimum sentences, no possibility of parole, and the full weight of a system designed to prosecute exactly this scenario. Port of entry drug charges are exclusively federal, and federal means federal consequences.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to explain exactly what happens when drugs are discovered at a port of entry – not the news headline version, but the legal reality that will determine whether you spend the next decade in federal prison. Todd Spodek has represented clients facing importation charges at border crossings. The jurisdiction is absolute. The sentences are mandatory. The defenses are narrow. Understanding what you’re facing is the first step toward any meaningful defense.

Here’s the fundamental reality that shapes everything: drug importation is exclusively a federal crime. Only the federal government has jurisdiction to prosecute someone bringing illegal drugs across an international border. There is no state court option. There is no plea to a lesser state charge. If drugs are discovered at a port of entry, you are facing federal prosecution in federal court with federal mandatory minimum sentences. This isn’t a choice prosecutors make – it’s the only legal structure that exists.

The Numbers That Contradict Everything You’ve Heard

Heres the paradox that should change how you think about border drug enforcement. All the debate about the wall, about between-port crossings, about desert smuggling routes – and 90% of fentanyl seizures happen at the official ports of entry were people are legally crossing.

In fiscal year 2021, CBP seized 624,500 pounds of drugs. Fentanyl seizures alone increased 134% that year. And according to CBP data, 97% of seized drugs are confiscated during inbound inspections at ports of entry. San Diego and Tucson sectors account for 87% of all fentanyl seizures border-wide.

And heres the hidden connection that suprises people: U.S. citizens are the primary smugglers at ports of entry, not foreign nationals. The cartel strategy isnt to send their people through checkpoints – its to recruit American citizens who wont raise the same red flags. Young people. People who need money. People who think crossing once wont get caught.

At Spodek Law Group, weve represented clients who never imagined they would face federal drug charges. They agreed to drive a car across the border for a few hundred dollars. They were told it was no big deal. Now there facing mandatory minimum sentences that will consume years or decades of there lives.

Everyone in the Vehicle Faces Charges

Heres the uncomfortable truth that passengers dont expect. When CBP finds drugs in a vehicle, everyone in that vehicle can be charged with importation. Not just the driver. Not just the owner. Everyone.

The legal theory is simple: you were in the vehicle. Drugs were in the vehicle. The drugs were being imported. Therefore, you participated in the importation. Your claim that you didnt know about the drugs is a defense you can raise at trial – but the prosecution dosent have to prove you knew about the drugs to charge you. They just have to prove the drugs were there and you were there to.

Passengers have been convicted of federal drug importation for being in vehicles were drugs were found in hidden compartments they never knew existed.

This is why CBP interviews everyone in a vehicle seperately. There looking for inconsistencies. There looking for signs of knowledge. There looking for anything that suggests you knew drugs were present. And if they cant determine who specificaly knew, they may charge everyone and let the federal court system sort it out.

Todd Spodek tells clients the same thing: never agree to transport anything across an international border for someone else. Never get in a vehicle you dont control when crossing the border. The risk of someone else having hidden drugs – and you facing charges for those drugs – is real and devastating.

The Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Structure

Federal drug importation sentences under 21 U.S.C. § 960 mirror the distribution sentencing structure. The quantities are the same. The mandatory minimums are the same. And the conseqences are just as harsh.

For fentanyl:

• 40 grams or more: 5 year mandatory minimum
• 400 grams or more: 10 year mandatory minimum

For cocaine:

• 500 grams or more: 5 year mandatory minimum
• 5 kilograms or more: 10 year mandatory minimum

For methamphetamine:

• 5 grams or more (pure): 5 year mandatory minimum
• 50 grams or more (pure): 10 year mandatory minimum

Heres the conseqence cascade people dont anticipate. You cross the border with 40 grams of fentanyl – less then two ounces. Your caught at the port of entry. Your charged with importation. The mandatory minimum is 5 years. The judge cannot give you less then 5 years no matter how sympathetic your circumstances. And federal prison has no parole. You serve at least 85% of that sentence. Five years becomes 4.25 years minimum behind bars.

And if you have a prior drug conviction – just one – the mandatory minimums double. If you have two prior drug felonies and get charged with importation again, the mandatory minimum is life without release.

Read that again. Life without release for a third drug importation offense. No possibility of parole. No possibility of early release. You die in federal prison.

The “Blind Mule” Defense Almost Never Works

Heres the system revelation that suprises defendants. Theres a defense called the “blind mule” defense – the claim that you genuinly didnt know drugs were in the vehicle. Maybe you were driving someone elses car. Maybe drugs were hidden in a compartment you never knew existed. Maybe you were tricked.

Only about 2% of blind mule defenses succeed.

The legal standard for conviction isnt “did you know what specific drug was hidden.” Its “did you know you were transporting some kind of prohibited substance.” Prosecutors argue that if you agreed to drive a vehicle across the border for money, if the payment was unusual, if the circumstances were suspicious, then you knew something illegal was happening even if you didnt know the specifics.

Courts are deeply skeptical of blind mule claims. They hear them constantly. They know cartels recruit couriers with exactly these stories. And they know that true blind mules – people who genuinly had no idea – are rare.

At Spodek Law Group, we evaluate every potential blind mule case honestly. What were the circumstances? How did you end up driving that vehicle? What did you know and when? Sometimes the defense is viable. More often, we need to pursue other strategies – cooperation, safety valve eligibility, sentencing mitigation. The blind mule defense is not the silver bullet defendants hope it will be.

Detection Technology Makes Discovery Almost Certain

Heres what happens when CBP decides to inspect your vehicle. They have technology designed specificaly to find hidden drugs. X-ray machines that see through panels and compartments. Density meters that detect anomolies in vehicle structures. Drug-sniffing dogs trained to alert on trace amounts. CBP officers who have seen every concealment method imaginable.

If drugs are hidden in your vehicle and you go to secondary inspection, they will probly find them.

This isnt random luck. This is systematic, technologically-enhanced detection. The cartels know this – thats why they send dozens of vehicles across and accept that some will get caught. The losses are built into there business model. But for the individual courier who gets caught, the consequences are personally catastrophic.

The port of entry conviction rate reflects this detection effectiveness. Once drugs are found, the evidence is overwhelming. The drugs were in your vehicle. You were driving. You crossed an international border. The elements of importation are established. What remains is sentencing – and sentencing is where mandatory minimums apply.

Cooperation and Safety Valve Options

Federal importation charges are serious. But there are paths to sentences below mandatory minimums. Let me explain what options actualy exist.

First, the safety valve provision. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), first-time offenders who meet certain criteria can receive sentences below mandatory minimums. You must have no significant criminal history. You must not have used violence. You must not have been a leader in the offense. And you must truthfully disclose everything you know about the offense. If you qualify, judges have discretion to sentence below mandatory minimums.

Second, substantial assistance. If you can provide valuable information that helps prosecutors build cases against others – the people who recruited you, the people who organized the smuggling – prosecutors can file motions for sentences below mandatory minimums. Cooperation isnt for everyone. It carries risks. But for many clients facing 5 or 10 year mandatory minimums, its the only path to a survivable sentence.

Third, quantity disputes. Mandatory minimums are quantity-based. If prosecutors claim 400 grams of fentanyl but the actualy amount was 398 grams, the mandatory minimum drops from 10 years to 5 years. Every gram matters in federal importation sentencing. We challenge quantities. We challenge testing procedures. We challenge purity calculations.

Fourth, constitutional challenges. Did CBP have grounds for secondary inspection? Was the search conducted properly? Were your rights respected during questioning? Even at ports of entry, constitutional protections exist – though there more limited then elsewhere.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The mistake of facing port of entry charges without experienced federal defense counsel can determine the next decade of your life.

The Border Districts Are Prosecution Machines

Importation cases are concentrated in border districts. Southern District of California. District of Arizona. Western District of Texas. Southern District of Texas. These districts handle the overwhelming majority of federal drug importation prosecutions.

What this means practically: these districts have developed specialized expertise. There prosecutors have handled thousands of importation cases. There judges have sentenced thousands of defendants. There system is designed to process these cases efficiently. The conviction rate in these districts exceeds 90%.

You need a defense attorney who understands these districts. Who knows how there prosecutors operate. Who has experience with there judges and there procedures. Port of entry prosecution isnt like other federal drug cases – its a specialized area with specialized challenges.

Todd Spodek handles federal cases across multiple districts, including the border districts were importation prosecutions are concentrated. We understand the unique dynamics of these jurisdictions.

The Reality Check

Port of entry drug charges are exclusively federal. Federal means mandatory minimum sentences. Federal means no parole. Federal means specialized prosecution in districts designed to convict exactly this type of case.

The 624,500 pounds of drugs seized at the border in FY2021 represent thousands of individual cases. Thousands of defendants. Thousands of people facing mandatory minimums. Many of them thought they would get through. Many of them thought one trip wouldnt matter. All of them discovered that federal importation prosecution is relentless and unforgiving.

Spodek Law Group exists for exactly these situations. When you’ve been arrested at a port of entry and your looking at federal importation charges. When mandatory minimums threaten to consume years of your life. When you need a lawyer who understands both the unique challenges of border prosecution and the defense strategies that can make a difference.

Dont wait. Federal detention and federal prosecution move quickly. Call now.