Revealing Hidden and Concealed Vehicle Compartments. A Survey of States’ Efforts at Addressing Prohibition Era Tactics

The transportation of contraband such as controlled substances, illegal firearms, stolen items, and proceeds from criminal activities can take many forms and are subject to the ever-evolving creative efforts by traffickers and criminal organizations to avoid detection by law enforcement. However, one of the simplest and most straightforward mechanisms of transport is in hidden or “trap” compartments in motor vehicles. However, given the legitimate use of discreet compartments (sometimes referred to as “automotive safes” or “traps”) in motor vehicles to secure personal items, important paperwork, and even licensed firearms, a question arises as to whether hidden and false compartments in vehicles can be criminalized without evidence of contraband at the time of discovery. There is no federal law specifically designed to address the manufacture, installation, use, or possession of hidden or false compartments in motor vehicles despite the often inter-state nature of trafficking contraband.

Due to the lack of federal legislation concerning the manufacture, installation, or possession of a hidden compartment in a vehicle for the purposes of concealing and transporting contraband, criminal proceeds, and instrumentalities of crime, law enforcement may have to turn to state laws to prosecute instances where a false or hidden compartment in a vehicle is discovered containing something other than controlled substances, or where there is evidence that the compartment is commonly used for concealing and transporting contraband but, at the time of discovery, is empty. Unfortunately, only a few states have laws that allow for the prosecution of such conduct and the forfeiture of such vehicles. This article is a survey of each state’s legislative history, state laws, and case law that address the criminalization of hidden and false compartments in motor vehicles.