Unpublished Disposition, 863 F.2d 887 (9th Cir. 1988)

MEMORANDUM^* 

Jorge Restrepo appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine and money laundering. Restrepo's guilty plea to the possession charge was conditioned upon the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence.

Appellant argues that the warrantless search of a closed suitcase in his hotel room was illegal, because it was not justified as a search incident to arrest since the search was remote in time from the arrest and no exigency existed.

This case is controlled by the decision of this court in United States v. Andersson, 813 F.2d 1450 (9th Cir. 1987). There this court upheld the search of a closed suitcase in a suspect's hotel room at the time of his arrest. See id. at 1455-56. " [A] police officer may, incident to lawful arrest, conduct a contemporaneous warrantless search of the arrestee's person and of the area into which the arrestee might reach to retrieve a weapon or destroy evidence.... Containers found within that area may also be searched contemporaneously with the arrest." Id. at 1455, quoting United States v. Burnette, 698 F.2d 1038, 1049 (9th Cir.), cert. denied 461 U.S. 936, 103 S. Ct. 2106 (1983).

In the instant case, as in Andersson, the search of the suitcase was contemporaneous with the arrest. Although the suspects were under control, the officer was justified in searching the area from which suspects might have retrieved a weapon.

AFFIRMED.