Judge Suppresses Evidence In Checkpoint Drug Arrests

pLYMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - A judge has ruled to suppress evidence against more than a dozen people who were charged with drug possession after being stopped and searched by customs and border protection agents last summer in northern New Hampshire.

The group was arrested on Interstate 93 in Woodstock at checkpoints after searches uncovered mostly small amounts of marijuana and other narcotics as part of what authorities said was a search for people living in the country illegally.

The drugs were handed over to local police because the amounts confiscated didn't meet the federal threshold for prosecution.

Plymouth District Court Judge Thomas Rappa ruled the evidence was seized in violation of state constitutional rights. 

He also said in some cases, the state failed to present evidence that a dog used to sniff for contraband was properly trained.

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WBZ NewsRadio1030's Carl Stevens reports.


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