# A drug dog checkpoint on I-80?  Wheres the legality?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-drug-dog-checkpoint-on-i-80-wheres-the-legality/260686>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 20, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-drug-dog-checkpoint-on-i-80-wheres-the-legality/260686 "2004-08-20T06:29:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-drug-dog-checkpoint-on-i-80-wheres-the-legality/260686/21 "2004-08-21T04:23:02Z")

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> [@bughunter](#):
>
> There’s a permanent immigration checkpoint on interstate 5 in California, north of San Diego. They stop and “inspect” every vehicle… which for passenger cars usually means nothing more than slowing down so that the nice _immigre_ can look at everyone inside. (But like **micco** , I’m sure they’ll be happy to bust you for smuggling drugs as well as for smuggling aliens.)
> 
> The thing about this checkpoint, though, is that it’s smack in the middle of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, which runs for about 20 miles along I-5 and a good 20 or 30 miles from the coast inland…
> 
> In other words, if you don’t exit at Oceanside, then there’s nowhere to get off the freeway.
> 
> And for the white emigrants fleeing to Mexico, looking for better working conditions, your last exit is the anglo hell hole of San Clemente. 😉

Way back when I was growing up in Carlsbad, I had many adventures at this checkpoint. Later on while stationed at Camp Pendleton, I found out that _hundreds_ of people per day walked through the installation in an attempt to bypass that checkpoint. The traffic through there is amazing.

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