What constitutes the border for the purpose of a customs search?

The broad authority of customs officials to conduct warrantless border searches without probable cause is clear. The question now presented, however, is what constitutes the border for the purpose of a border search? The courts that have addressed this question have distinguished two concepts: (1) the "extended" border and, (2) the "functional equivalent" of the border. See, e.g., United States v. Caminos, 770 F.2d 361, 364 (3d Cir.1985). Appellants contend that since the shipment arrived and entered in Miami, and was shipped, by truck, 1500 miles to New York, a customs search 8 days later was neither at the border nor "its 'functional' or 'extended' equivalent." The government contends that appellants' arguments "blur the distinction between 'extended border searches' and searches 'within the functional equivalent of the border.' "

An "extended" border search is a search that usually is conducted after a person or some property has "cleared an initial customs checkpoint and [has] entered the United States." United States v. Glaziou, 402 F.2d 8, 13 (2d Cir.1968) (dictum), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1121, 89 S.Ct. 999, 22 L.Ed.2d 126 (1969). An extended border search does not require a warrant, but, due to the "greater intrusion on legitimate expectations of privacy, [it is] permitted only if supported by reasonable suspicion." United States v. Niver, 689 F.2d 520, 526 (5th Cir.1982) (citing United States v. Richards, 638 F.2d 765, 772 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1097, 102 S.Ct. 669 (1981)).