High Court OKs Searches Outside U.S. : Law enforcement: The justices rule that a warrant is not needed when American agents are investigating non-citizens in foreign countries.

WASHINGTON —  The Supreme Court today bolstered the fight against international drug trafficking and terrorism by giving U.S. law-enforcement agents more power to conduct searches in foreign countries.

By a 6-3 vote, the justices said U.S. agents did not need a court warrant to search the home of a suspected Mexican drug smuggler later convicted in the killing of a federal drug agent.

The ruling gives U.S. law-enforcement officials broad authority to conduct warrantless searches abroad of non-U.S. citizens.

The Constitution’s Fourth Amendment ban on illegal searches does not apply to non-citizens outside U.S. borders, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court.

The suspected drug smuggler in today’s ruling, Rene Verdugo Urquidez, was convicted in Los Angeles in 1988 of taking part in the 1985 kidnaping, torture and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena and his pilot, Alfredo Zavala Avelar.

Verdugo, identified as a top lieutenant to reputed Mexican drug kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, is serving a sentence of 240 years plus life. He is not eligible for parole for 59 years, when he would be 96.

Verdugo’s drug conviction and sentence in the killings were not at issue in the case decided today.

The search warrant issue arose in a separate, although related, prosecution.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals suppressed evidence obtained by the DEA in its search of Verdugo’s Mexicali, Mexico, home in 1988.

Verdugo was arrested by Mexican police in 1986 and was turned over to U.S. authorities in California.

While he was awaiting trial, the DEA got the cooperation of Mexican authorities to search the home. The agents seized a tally sheet they said shows the quantities of marijuana smuggled into the United States by Verdugo.

A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that the evidence was not admissible because the U.S. agents failed to obtain a warrant in a U.S. court.

The 9th Circuit court upheld the judge’s decision, saying U.S. agents are not free to ignore the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution that protects against unreasonable government searches.

The Bush Administration argued that the DEA agents received assurances from Mexican government officials that the search was lawful there without a warrant.

The DEA said requiring warrants in such cases could hamper its campaign against drug smugglers.

It has offices in 45 nations. In 1988 alone, it said, it helped in investigations that led to 1,200 arrests of suspected drug smugglers in foreign countries.