Court partially grants motion to suppress evidence

The Superior Court has granted, in part, a drug defendant’s motion to suppress evidence acquired during the search of his vehicle and package that allegedly contained nearly five lbs of methamphetamine, colloquially known as “ice.”

In a 30-page order issued by Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho, he granted in part and denied in part the motion filed by Zhang Yuzhu to suppress evidence found in his vehicle and a package he picked up at the U.S Post Office that allegedly contained nearly five lbs of “ice.”

The part of the motion that Camacho granted was to suppress evidence acquired from a search of Zhang’s vehicle. However, the court denied the part of the motion looking to suppress evidence obtained from the seizure of Zhang’s package.

“[Zhang] did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the package at the time of the search and that Customs officers complied with their statutory jurisdiction requirements. Therefore, the court denies the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the package,” he said.

“However, the court finds that the Customs officers’ warrantless search of the defendant’s vehicle did not comply with any of the established exceptions that would allow for a warrantless search. Therefore, the court grants the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the vehicle,” Camacho added.

Zhang, 48, is accused of attempting to smuggle from California, through mail, 4.9 lbs of methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $700,000.

Zhang was charged with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance. He has denied the charges.  

Previously, through assistant public defender Veena Seelam, the defendant asked the court to suppress all evidence and statements obtained as a result of the search of his package, and the search of his vehicle without a warrant or other legal justification on March 19, 2022.

Through an interpreter, Zhang told police that an “unknown male” offered him $100 to pick up a “large parcel of chinaware” at a Garapan postal service and bring it to the back of the Mobil gas station on Beach Road. 

Zhang also claims that the $4,239 in cash found inside his vehicle was his but not the 19 small clear plastic bags containing methamphetamine weighing 26.3 grams. 

Investigators stated that the cash and meth found in Zhang’s vehicle strongly indicated that he was a drug distributor and trafficker.

This evidence has since been suppressed after the court found the search of the defendant’s vehicle to be unlawful.