Transporting Drugs In Oversized Tires

In People v. Celis (2004) 33 Cal.4th 667, the defendant there was suspected of transporting large amounts of drugs in oversized tires. The defendant was observed taking one such tire, which was deflated, from a tire shop into his house, along with an air pressurizing tank. "Some 40 minutes later, defendant came through the back door of his house, rolling a large inflated truck tire toward the alley. It appeared to Detective Strain to be the same tire defendant had brought back from the tire shop. About the same time Ordaz another suspect arrived at the alley driving a full-sized green pickup truck. Suspecting that the tire defendant was rolling toward the alley contained either money or narcotics, Detective Strain pulled out his gun and ordered defendant and Ordaz to stop. Defendant was handcuffed and made to sit down against the wall of his house. Because Detective Strain had noticed that defendant's wife and 'possibly a male juvenile' lived with him, Strain together with other officers entered the house to determine if there was anyone inside who might endanger their safety. It took less than two minutes to walk through the 500-square foot house. The officers did not find anyone inside, but did see a wooden box large enough to conceal a person. Inside the box were several uniformly sized, wrapped packages . . . which proved to contain 16 kilograms of cocaine. They also searched the large truck tire, which contained 25 kilograms of cocaine." (Celis, supra, 33 Cal.4th 667, 671-673.)