Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jan 2004
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2004 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Bill Kramer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

DRUG INTERDICTION TEAM PRAISED

EL RENO -- Three Canadian County sheriff's deputies are being credited with 
intercepting suspected drug traffickers. by duct tape, Hawkins said.

The van driver, who has several aliases, is from either Illinois or 
Kentucky, Hawkins said. He posted bail and is to appear in court Thursday 
for his initial appearance.

"Everybody feeds off I-40 in this area," Hawkins said. "Oklahoma City has a 
group that works east of us. Yukon is getting ready to put an interdiction 
unit on the interstate.

"The highway patrol is here. We're taking off what drugs we can. Whether 
it's 15 pounds or 500 pounds, we don't really care. We're just glad to get 
as much off the street as we can."

Hawkins' department is permitted to auction seized vehicles involved in 
transporting illegal drugs. Drug money seized is turned over to federal 
authorities and often reallocated at nearly a 90 percent rate to the 
reporting office.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States, 
according to a study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Hawkins 
said its rampant use is deteriorating society and forcing him to use 
officers in rural areas to combat drug transportation.

"I hate to dedicate people on the interstate when our main job is to 
protect citizens' houses and property," Hawkins said, "but you know all 
that stuff passing down that major artery affects all those people. It's 
pathetic.

"Chemical abuse or chemical dependency is going to be the death of this 
society.

"When you speak of methamphetamine in Oklahoma, we're crippled by it," 
Hawkins said. "Things needed to make it are readily available. We see more 
and more people becoming chemically dependent.

"Every time we try to do battle with one drug, something new pops up like 
the jimsonweed plant in Mustang where the kids were eating the seeds, and 
the kid who drank (cough syrup) to get high in Edmond. We've become 
addicted to so many things."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom