Pubdate: Fri, 23 May 2003
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2003 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  http://www.sunspot.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Jonathan D. Rockoff, Sun Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

NEW DRUG ENFORCEMENT UNIT ARRESTS 14 IN STEPPED-UP EFFORT

Maryland State Police have seized more than 40 pounds of cocaine and 
marijuana, arrested 14 people and recovered more than $100,000 since 
stepping up efforts to catch drug smuggling along the state's highways.

Col. Edward T. Norris said yesterday that he formed a unit May 5 and 
increased drug interdiction efforts this month to stem the flow of drugs 
into Baltimore and other Maryland communities.

On May 12, the unit stopped a car heading for Baltimore with half a 
kilogram of powder cocaine inside. Two days later, on May 14, it stopped 
another car heading for Rockville that held 6 kilograms of pure cocaine.

"You don't want people thinking this is a free state -- you can drive 
around trafficking your wares," Norris said at a news conference where some 
of the drugs and two seized guns were displayed.

The state police superintendent's moves follow years of criticism that 
state police road stops were racially motivated.

Norris said the criticism had dampened drug enforcement on state highways, 
which he wants to reverse.

His new unit, called the Interstate Criminal Enforcement team, gathers 
intelligence, roams stretches of highway known to have a heavy 
concentration of drug smugglers and makes routine traffic stops in search 
of drugs.

Norris emphasized that the troopers on the team -- he declined to say how 
many for security reasons -- received training approved by the U.S. 
Department of Justice's civil rights division on making traffic stops. 
Their stops are reviewed daily.

The arrests have stemmed from speeding violations, operating a vehicle with 
tinted windows and other traffic violations, state police said. Troopers 
have found drugs and money stashed in secret compartments that are opened 
electronically. 
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager