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Opinion J. BLAINE ANDERSON, Circuit Judge: In these consolidated appeals, the government appeals the granting of the defendants' separate motions to suppress evidence obtained during a series of searches taking place on or about August 17, 1979. We affirm the rulings of the court below. 1. BACKGROUND Unless otherwise indicated, the following factual development has been gleaned from the district court's findings below. On August 17, 1979, a woman's overnight case arrived at the Western Airlines baggage terminal at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The case had been shipped as a "Speed Pak" from San Diego and was addressed to a "Mrs. R. Nelson" of Vashon Island, Washington. Shortly after the case arrived, a Western Airlines employee named Hank Rivard examined the case by shaking it. Rivard found the case to be somewhat suspicious because it was lightweight, did not rattle when shaken, and was taped shut. He opened the case and found that it contained a white powder substance. After discovering the white powder, Rivard contacted Special Agent Walt Brehm of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Brehm and several other DEA agents went to the Western terminal, where they observed the open case and white powder. A field test confirmed that the substance was cocaine. The case was then repacked with sugar, and resealed. Later that evening, the defendant Karyn Walther arrived, claimed the case, and was arrested in the airport's parking garage. Walther's arrest led to the seizure of other evidence from her purse and car. Apparently, defendant Barba-Barba was responsible for shipping the case to Seattle. The disclosure of the contents of Walther's overnight case was not Rivard's first contact with the DEA. The DEA has maintained a confidential informant file on Rivard which relates mainly to his reporting suspicious individuals fitting the "drug profile" while working at the ticket counter. According to that file, Rivard was established as a confidential informant and issued an informant number in October 1973. Between 1973 and 1977, Rivard provided information to the DEA on at least eleven occasions for which he received payments in amounts ranging from $25.00 to $250.00, receiving a total of $800.00 during that period. Rivard's file was closed on October 27, 1977, while he was on leave of absence from Western Airlines. Rivard was never made aware that his file had been closed. According to Rivard's testimony at the suppression hearing, he had opened approximately ten Speed Paks in the past and had frequently discovered illegal drugs. Though he had never been paid for information supplied in connection with Speed Pak openings, the DEA had never discouraged him from so doing and, according to the testimony of one agent, would have paid him had he ever discovered a significant amount of drugs. Rivard also testified that while he did not expect payment for notifying the DEA of the contents of Walther's case, he also had no reason not to expect payment. Walther was indicted on one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and one count of conspiring with Barba-Barba to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. Barba-Barba was indicted on one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and one count of distribution. Both defendants moved to suppress all evidence seized on August 17. Following a suppression hearing on Walther's motion, the district court found that at the time Rivard opened the Speed Pak and summoned DEA agents, he was acting as "an instrument or agent" of the DEA. In addition to the findings recited above, the court found that in opening the Speed Pak Rivard was not carrying out a business purpose of his employer, his sole reason being his suspicion that the case contained illegal drugs. The court further found that Rivard probably opened the case with the expectation that he would be compensated by the DEA if he were to discover a significant quantity of illegal drugs. Accordingly, the court ruled that Rivard had been acting as an agent of the DEA at the time he opened the overnight case and that all evidence seized as a result of the search would be suppressed. The court subsequently ordered the same evidence suppressed in Barba-Barba's case on the basis of its findings in the Walther suppression hearing. These appeals followed. Question: In your own words, summarize the relevant facts of this case.