Also known as: drug courier profiles · drug-courier profile · courier profile · drug profile
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A set of characteristics thought to be associated with persons carrying illegal drugs. Factors matching such a profile may contribute to the totality of the circumstances supporting reasonable suspicion for an investigative stop but do not by themselves establish or negate that suspicion.
Danielle Dixon arrived at the airport on a one-way cash ticket from a known source city and carried only a small bag. She appeared nervous while scanning the terminal and paid with sequentially numbered money orders. Officers briefly detained her for questioning. The combination of these factors supplied reasonable suspicion even though each detail could describe innocent travel.
Diana Delgado flew under an assumed name from a source city and paid cash for her ticket. She carried a single heavy suitcase and displayed nervous behavior at the gate. Officers approached her and asked her to accompany them for further inquiry. The observed characteristics supported a brief investigative detention under the totality standard.
On January 3, 1978, two plainclothes detectives from the Dade County Public Safety Department observed Mark Royer at Miami International Airport as he purchased a one-way ticket to New York City under the name "Holt" and checked two suitcases bearing identification tags with that name and the destination La Guardia. The detectives believed Royer's appearance, mannerisms, luggage, and actions matched the drug courier profile, including paying cash for the ticket and appearing nervous, so they approached him, identified themselves as police officers, and asked if he had a moment to speak. Royer agreed to the encounter and produced his airline ticket in the name of Holt along with his driver's license in his correct name. When questioned about the name discrepancy, Royer explained that a friend had made the reservation. The detectives then informed Royer they were narcotics investigators who suspected him of transporting narcotics. They did not return his ticket or license. Instead they asked him to accompany them to a small room approximately 40 feet away. Royer went with the officers without objection to the room, which Detective Johnson later described as a large storage closet in the stewardesses' lounge containing a desk and two chairs. Without Royer's consent, one detective retrieved his luggage using the baggage check stubs and brought the suitcases to the room. The officers asked Royer if he would consent to a search of the suitcases, and he produced a key to unlock one, which the detective opened to reveal marijuana. Royer stated he did not know the combination to the second suitcase but said "no, go ahead" when asked if he objected to it being opened, and the officers pried it open to find more marijuana. Approximately 15 minutes had elapsed from the initial approach until Royer was placed under arrest. Prior to trial on charges of felony possession of marijuana, Royer moved to suppress the evidence from the search, but the trial court denied the motion after finding the consent freely and voluntarily given. Royer then entered a nolo contendere plea, reserving the right to appeal the suppression ruling, and was convicted. The Florida District Court of Appeal, sitting en banc, reversed the conviction. The Florida Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseNo. Association with a drug courier profile neither establishes nor negates reasonable suspicion. Profile elements may be considered only as part of the totality of the circumstances.
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Yes. Officers may rely on a combination of innocuous factors such as travel itinerary, method of payment, and nervous behavior when those factors taken together reasonably suggest criminal activity.
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Courts evaluate all known facts collectively rather than in isolation. A profile match supplies one data point that officers may weigh alongside other specific and articulable indicators.
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A valid stop rests on concrete observed facts that collectively point to criminal activity. Treating profile status alone as automatically sufficient or automatically insufficient violates the totality requirement.
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…transporting narcotics between major drug sources and distribution centers in the United States. Federal agents have developed "drug courier profiles" that describe the characteristics generally associated with narcotics traffickers. For example, because the Drug Enforcement Administration believes that most drugs enter Detroit from one…