A drug bust at the Omaha bus depot in 2007, which netted 22 pounds of cocaine, was illegal. That is the ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Court documents show Christian Alvarez-Manzo was a passenger on a Greyhound bus that stopped in Omaha on Oct. 31, 2007.

A Nebraska State Patrol investigator removed Alvarez-Manzo's bag from the bus's cargo area because he said he found its appearance suspicious.

A lower court, however, ruled the Nebraska Trooper seized the bag without reasonable suspicion.

The Appeals Court also agreed that the investigator's removal of Alvarez-Manzo from the bus and questioning of him violated the man's rights.