Pubdate: Mon, 17 Jun 2002
Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS)
Copyright: 2002 The Clarion-Ledger
Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html
Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805
Author: Thyrie Bland, Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

DRUG BUSTS ON HIGHWAYS UP

Tighter Airport Security since Sept. 11 Major Factor, Miss. Official Says

Routine traffic stops are turning into drug busts more often in 
Mississippi, making law officers believe tighter airport security has 
forced drug dealers back to the roads, a task force director says.

Officers are finding more private and commercial vehicles with drugs and 
cash in secret compartments in the wake of increased airport security that 
followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said James Hawkins, head of the 
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces in Mississippi.

The latest figures available show law enforcement agencies made 278 drug 
seizures on state highways from Sept. 11 to March 31, compared with 151 in 
the same period in 2000 and 2001. That's an 84 percent increase.

The law enforcement agencies recovered 7,352 pounds of cocaine, marijuana 
and methamphetamines from Sept. 11 to March 31, compared with 3,535 pounds 
of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines in the same period a year 
earlier, more than doubling the seizures.

Agencies in other states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and 
Virginia, also have seen drug seizures on highways increase since Sept. 11, 
according to published reports.

"People trying to transport drugs through the air has all but shut down 
since 9-11 because of the security," said Hawkins, a former U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration agent.

At Jackson International Airport, there have been two busts since Sept. 11, 
Hawkins said, but none in the past 90 days.

By next year, security at airports across the country will be even tighter. 
Machines that can detect explosives will be installed in airport baggage areas.

"At the same time, if there are drugs there, they will be found, too," 
Hawkins said. "The logical thing on the part of the potential drug 
smugglers is: Don't use the airports. Don't risk getting searched and your 
luggage getting checked.

"I can't imagine anyone being stupid enough to try to send some (drugs) 
through."

Most of the drug seizures on Mississippi highways are being made on the 
interstates - I-10, I-20, I-55 and I-59, Hawkins said.

The majority of the seizures have been on I-20, an east-west corridor 
running through the Jackson metro area, and I-10, an east-west corridor 
running along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hawkins said.

"Everything coming from the Mexican border going to the East Coast comes 
through here either on I-10 or I-20," Hawkins said. "It's a direct route to 
Atlanta, Philadelphia and everything on the eastern seaboard."

Pearl police officers are often on I-20 watching for drug traffickers, 
Police Chief Bill Slade said.

"We have had several (seizures)," Slade said. "We had two or three stops 
where we had drugs going east, and we have gotten a little bit over 
$300,000 going westbound."

Most of the drug seizures on state highways are being made by Mississippi 
Highway Safety Patrol troopers, Hawkins said.

Drug traffickers are trying to make sure drugs are difficult for officers 
to find, Trooper Wayne Wasson said.

Drug traffickers often use items such as duct tape, dryer sheets, pepper 
spray and perfume to hide the smell, officials said.

Officers are finding the drugs with help from drug-sniffing dogs, X-ray 
machines and cameras, Hawkins said.

"It can be time-consuming trying to find what they have," said Wasson, who 
in May found $100,000 worth of black tar heroin hidden in the dashboard of 
a car on I-20 East near Bolton. "A good thorough search can take 30, 40 
minutes."

Several months ago, law enforcement agencies on the Gulf Coast teamed up to 
find drug traffickers on I-10, Hawkins said.

Hawkins wants to organize a similar effort on I-20, teaming the Highway 
Patrol with the Warren, Hinds and Rankin counties sheriff's departments and 
the Pearl and Brandon police departments.

"I would say we are probably not getting 10 percent of the drugs coming 
through on the interstates," Hawkins said. "Right now, we are not really 
trying to focus on this. If we really got out there and got focused, there 
is no telling what we might end with up."

Getting drug traffickers off the road is a job many law enforcement 
officers are not taking lightly since Sept. 11, Madison County Sheriff Toby 
Trowbridge said.

"This is personal," Trowbridge said, noting a TV commercial that says 
people buying drugs may be supporting terrorists.

Trowbridge has deputies in a drug interdiction unit that patrols I-55. "We 
are looking (for drug traffickers) all the time," Trowbridge said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager