Pubdate: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2003 The Clarion-Ledger Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) DRUG CORRIDOR? I-20 Now A Major Drug Portal Homeland security? It's not always about protecting Mississippi citizens from what is traditionally defined as terrorism. Sometimes, it's protecting us from the scourges within our own borders - and illegal drugs is chief among those dangers along Mississippi's Interstate 20 corridor. How significant a drug portal has this federal highway crossing Mississippi from Vicksburg to Kewanee become? Consider this week's activity: * State Department of Transportation officers seized $412,000 worth of marijuana (206 pounds) from a tractor-trailer load of watermelons bound for Baltimore that was stopped on Interstate 20 near Meridian, officials said. * Rankin County lawmen arrested two Texas men at an I-20 traffic stop on Thursday who are accused of attempting to transport $8 million in drugs inside crates of new furniture. Officers found what they believe was 332 pounds of cocaine and more than 80 pounds of crystal methamphetamine. Economic developers dream of an I-20 corridor that will be the "new Detroit" in terms of attracting auto makers to the Deep South. But unless federal, state and local lawmen maintain their vigilance, the I-20 corridor may well become known as the drug corridor for the state. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager