Pubdate: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 Source: Deseret News (UT) Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp. Contact: http://www.desnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124 Author: Margery Beck, Associated Press writer DRUG COURIERS HITTING ROAD Since 9/11, Many Of Them Are Getting Caught Along I-80 OMAHA, Neb. - Drug traffickers apparently are moving their goods on wheels rather than by air because of increased airport security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Troopers along one of the nation's busiest transcontinental highways, I-80, have uncovered record amounts of drugs - mostly marijuana and cocaine - during routine traffic stops in recent months. Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio and Wyoming all have seen sharp increases in drug seizures along the interstate highway since the attacks. Those states account for nearly half of the highway's 2,909 miles between San Francisco and the New York City area. Officials in Utah say it's hard to know if drug-shipment seizures along the portion of I-80 that runs through the state have gone up since Sept. 11. "When Sept. 11 happened, I immediately sent out an e-mail to all my people that because of the increased security at the airport you can expect small shipments being transported in cars rather than airlines," said Lt. Fred Swain, commander of the Utah Department of Public Safety Criminal Interdiction Team. "We just can't say for sure if these were organizations that normally would have used airplanes or not." The team was formed Oct. 9, and in addition to catching drug smugglers on Utah roadways helps prevent terrorism, tracks wanted persons and stolen vehicles. Since Oct. 9 UHP has seized 19 shipments of significant drug loads, which are essentially one pound or more. "Ten of those cases are a pound or two pounds - and a majority of those are meth cases - which are consistent with the quantities that would be smuggled over the airlines," Swain said. But because the team was not around last year, Swain said it's hard to say if troopers are catching more shipments. The department has also seen a shift in policy over the last year, with the focus being moved away from drug interdiction to traffic enforcement and making the roads safer. With the Criminal Interdiction Team now in place, highway drug interdiction will be tracked and monitored by a single supervisor, Swain said. Of the 19 drug cases, only one was actually seized on I-80. Another seven were caught before they reached I-80 headed for places like Detroit or Des Moines, Iowa, Swain said. "There were probably about three other cases that we don't know the destination because we were not able to figure it out from our investigation," Swain said. "It is possible that more drugs are being transported over the road by those who want to avoid the heightened security at airports, but I would say there's not one single explanation for the increase," said Col. Tom Nesbitt, head of the Nebraska State Patrol. Nesbitt, whose agency polices more miles of the interstate than any other in the nation, said he also believes better trained troopers should be credited with finding more drugs. After seeing a drop in drug seizures in the weeks after the attacks, Nebraska troopers started to find more drugs in early October. The latest count was 2,664 pounds of drugs seized in highway traffic stops in Nebraska from October to January - more than twice the 1,236 pounds seized during the same period last year. Most of the drugs were found hidden in cars, vans and other vehicles on the east-west interstate, which also crosses California, Nevada, Utah, Indiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. "Since Sept. 11, every law-enforcement officer in the country is more aware of who he's talking to," Wyoming State Highway Patrol Lt. Carl McDonald said. McDonald believes improved training and four new drug-sniffing dogs have led to more drug seizures and arrests in Wyoming. Felony drug arrests there more than quadrupled from 30 in 2000 to 126 last year. McDonald said most of the new arrests were made along Interstate 80 since Sept. 11. Drug traffickers aren't slowing down, either. Drug seizures in Ohio increased by 170 percent in the past six weeks. A Feb. 5 stop in western Ohio netted a record 1,872 pounds of marijuana on the north- south Interstate 75, which intersects with I-80 near Toledo. Since October, troopers in Ohio have uncovered about 215 pounds of marijuana on Interstate 80, compared to just a quarter pound during the same time last year. Iowa troopers have seized $8.2 million in illegal drugs since Jan. 1 - - more than the $8 million seized for all of 2001. Drug arrests in the state before January were only slightly higher than usual, leading Hansen to speculate that federal regulations calling for the screening of checked baggage at airports after Jan. 18 led more traffickers to the road. "The one thing we can look at is the increased security at all the commercial transportation sites - airports, Greyhound bus stations, Amtrak stations. That eliminates a major avenue for these people," Hansen said. Not every I-80 state has seen an increase. In Nevada, New Jersey and Indiana, drug seizures have remained steady. "Interstate 80 is a major drug corridor from California east, so we always stay pretty busy," Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Pat McGill said. In Utah, the highway patrol made 23 percent fewer drug arrests from Sept. 15 to Feb. 1 when compared with the same period last year. Those arrests were personal-use, not drug-shipment seizures, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Doug McCleve said. McCleve said preparations for the recent Winter Olympics occupied troopers' time, which could have accounted for the drop. Nesbitt is not ready to call the increases in his state anything more than temporary, noting that I-80 states keep each other abreast of drug traffic along the corridor. "We see the numbers going up in the surrounding states," Nesbitt said. "But I think we need to see first-quarter figures before we can say this is a trend." Contributing: Derek Jensen. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh