[420 Girl]

New Jersey State Troopers acted properly when their inspection of a truck turned into a search that found marijuana in a hidden compartment, an appeals court ruled Monday.

The decision allows a prosecutor to present the drugs as evidence against Anthony Hewitt and Dervan Facey, whose truck was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mount Laurel for a safety check in November 2005.

During that inspection, the court decision says, Trooper Wayne Hancock became suspicious of the men, then determined that the truck's interior was four feet shorter than its exterior. Another trooper then used a fiber-optic scope to look beyond the false wall.

A lower-court judge said the drugs could not be used as evidence because the troopers had no search warrant. But the appellate panel, citing extensive regulation of the trucking industry, said the troopers had the right to look into the hidden compartment "in order to complete a safety inspection of the vehicle."

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