cannabisnews.com: Detour for Drug Smugglers: Take I-20 





Detour for Drug Smugglers: Take I-20 
Posted by FoM on October 26, 1999 at 08:57:12 PT
By Henry Farber, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
Source: AccessAtlanta
Traffic stops are turning into drug busts for more cops along I-20 in metro Atlanta. Police say they are seizing more drugs than ever on the east-west route, which originates near the Mexican border and gives smugglers a straight shot out of Texas. 
"Instead of Miami being the cocaine capital of the world, it's coming out of Mexico," said Capt. Ron Dykes, commander of the DeKalb Police Department's narcotics squad. Traditionally, Southeastern narcotics shipments have moved from Florida through Georgia on I-95, I-85 and I-75. But a decade of South Florida crackdowns by the Coast Guard, Air Force and Customs Service have forced drug barons to seek other routes, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Smugglers who once worked mainly by sea and air now are driving across Mexico, catching I-20 at its westernmost point near El Paso, Texas. From there, they can head straight into downtown Atlanta to connect with I-75 and its Detroit-Chicago offshoots or I-85 for a northeastern run. "If the pressure's on in one area, then they move somewhere else," said David Luitweiler, executive assistant to the director of the DEA. Even though the detour indicates that the Florida crackdowns have made an impact, it doesn't necessarily signal a reduction in drugs on Americans streets, authorities acknowledge. "The only thing anybody knows about is what's caught," said Agent Joe Long of the DEA's El Paso intelligence center. No single agency tries to count how many pounds of drugs are confiscated by local police departments, which account for most arrests, authorities say. The DEA does, however, count its drug seizures, and they document the shift from Florida to the Mexican border states. Does the I-20 traffic mean more drugs are being pumped into neighborhoods along the route? Not necessarily, police say. Like every big city, Atlanta is a major drug market, but most of the drugs on its bypass highways keep moving up the interstate system. Still, the illegal cargo can spell danger for interstate traffic cops, officers say. "If you're dealing with that level of violator, the potential for violence is always increased," said Conyers police Chief Tony Lucas, whose officers patrol I-20 east of Atlanta. That's why Lucas made interdiction a department initiative this year. He bought two K-9 dogs to sniff out suspicious vehicles and trained his traffic officers to watch for possible drug runners. This month, a driver was weaving along I-20 through Conyers. A patrolling officer was close behind, and his suspicions grew by the moment. Why was there a tattered dealer's tag on a new-looking car? Why did the driver freeze up, clenching the wheel, when the patrol car pulled by his side, even before the siren sounded? After the officer stopped the car, he wondered what was in a black garbage bag on the floorboard. With the police station less than a mile away, a drug-sniffing K-9 dog was rushed to the scene while the arresting officer stalled the suspect. A few barks and paw scratches were all the police needed for probable cause to search the car. Under the bag was 8 pounds of marijuana. It's really the harder drugs Lucas would like to intercept, such as cocaine and heroin. But another fast-growing concern is methamphetamine, produced in large Mexican labs. "The metro Atlanta area is often known as the methamphetamine capital of the Southeast," said John Andrejko, special agent in charge of the DEA's regional office. Fueling the I-20 connection is what authorities call a growing partnership between Colombian and Mexican drug bosses, who operated independently for the most part until 10 years ago. Now, Colombian producers cooperate with Mexican drivers, who pick up shipments and cross the U.S. border. That overland route is an alternative to the old Caribbean and Atlantic crossings, where smugglers must elude Coast Guard crews, AWACS aerial surveillance and Federal Aviation Administration radar. Georgia State Patrol troopers say they have seized more drugs on I-20 but have seen no let-up on the north-south routes. "At one time we saw a drop, but it's back to running like before," said patrol spokesman Gordy Wright. "With the volume of traffic now, what law enforcement gets now is just the tip of the iceberg." Last week, Louisiana police found 24 pounds of Valium in a car during a stop in Shreveport, the first city east of the Texas line on I-20. "A few years ago, about the only thing coming west to east was marijuana," said Louisiana Trooper Don Campbell. "Now it's everything: cocaine, methamphetamines, prescription drugs." West of Atlanta on I-20, Douglas County Sheriff Tommy Waldrop agreed: "You're seeing more drugs everywhere." In Conyers, Chief Lucas has focused on the drug war as a member of the narcotics committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "You can't put an agent at every mile on the border," Lucas said. "As long as we're the United States of America, and we welcome everybody with open arms, then that makes it an easy route to funnel drugs." By Henry FarberPubdate: October 26, 1999 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on October 27, 1999 at 17:22:13 PT
ACLU Bust card
One matter which is rarely mentioned by police is the fact that they almost always ASK to look in your car. They try to get chummy with you to lower your guard, and then they spring their question. And try to intimidate you to giving up your 4th Ammendment Rights. (Now, if you didn't have anything to worry about... if you were innocent... then you couldn't possibly have an objection to their searching your vehicle.) Well, friends, you have the right to tell them ... NO. You then may ask them if you are under arrest. The only reason they can continue to hold you is if you are under arrest.They must either arrest you, or let you go. If they hem and haw, just tell them that if you are not under arrest, you are leaving, because they know as well as you do that you have just told them you will not give up your 4th Ammendment rights, and they have not arrested you. They either arrest you or they let you go. And it always helps to say something like "My lawyer told me never to agree to a warrantless search". That makes 'em back up and think twice.I suggest you go to the ACLU web site and get their Bust Card. It might help.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on October 26, 1999 at 09:25:23 PT
"really the harder drugs", honest.
''A few barks and paw scratches were all the police needed for probable cause to search the car. Under the bag was 8 pounds of marijuana. It's really the harder drugs Lucas would like to intercept, such as cocaine and heroin. ''Sure: He needs to say that, to justify himself. But we can see what the "War On Drugs" really is a to a large extent: a war on marijuana (smokers).''But another fast-growing concern is methamphetamine, produced in large Mexican labs. ''Yeah, yeah: anything to divert attention from the fact that the "war on drugs" is a war on marijuana. Without marijuana being kept illegal, the budgetary reason for the "war on drugs" dries up. (Unthinkable!)''"The metro Atlanta area is often known as the methamphetamine capital of the Southeast," said John Andrejko, special agent in charge of the DEA's regional office. ''More self-serving budget justification from one who has a big vested interest in continuing to lock up marijuana users. After all, John Andrejko has his family and pension to think of... If not for the "War on Drugs", how would he get by? ''Oh yes,'' Andrejko assures everyone, ''Big drug problem here. Need to keep locking up your marijuana-smoking parents'' is Andrejko's message to the children.Orange County Register, Oct 25, 1999 :''the total number of arrests for marijuana offenses in   1998 was 682,885, 88 percent of them for possession, not sale or manufacture. ''
Drug War Bankruptcy
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