Cell-Site Clone to Track Narcotics Suspect Approved, With Limits

The Drug Enforcement Administration can use a cell-site simulator to identify the cell phone number of a person suspected of trafficking narcotics, a federal judge in Illinois ruled, allowing the warrant because of limitations that he says account for Fourth Amendment concerns.

“As technology has enhanced the government’s ability to surveil individuals, so too must courts develop a framework for reviewing surveillance warrants that cast a wide and broad net as a result of its operation,” Magistrate Judge Sunil R. Harjani of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Wednesday.

Harjani approved the DEA’s use of ...