OHP sees big increase in drug busts since September 11th

Friday, April 5th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Drug arrests have increased sharply along Interstate 44 through Oklahoma since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, possibly because increased airport security has encouraged more smugglers to use land routes.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol made 56 drug arrests along I-44 between Sept. 11 and April 1, between Lawton and Miami, compared to six drug arrests on the same stretch of highway for the same period a year ago. The amount of illegal drugs seized also increased.

``It's more of everything, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines,'' Lt. Chris West said. ``We went from six one-hundreths of an ounce of meth to a pound and a-half, from a couple of pounds of cocaine to 189 pounds, from a few pounds of marijuana to more than 2,000 pounds.''

I-44 runs from the southwest corner of Oklahoma to the state's northeast corner.

``Airports have clamped down on security and that could be why we're finding more dope on the highways,'' West said. ``We looked at everything and tried to find a reason why the numbers are up, and the only thing that's different is 9-11.''

I-40, a main east-west route across the country, and Interstate 35, a major north-south route, intersect in Oklahoma City. Both are considered popular for drug smugglers, West said. He did not have current drug arrest statistics for those two interstates.

Most drug arrests start when a motorist is pulled over for a traffic violation.

``We train our people to look beyond the traffic violation,'' West said. ``When a trooper stops someone for speeding there is verbal and non-verbal communication going on.

``If they're deceitful, you pick up on it, if they're uneasy it's obvious.''

Often there's no way to spot an illegal drug shipment in progress.

``Even though we've seen some success in taking dope off the highways, the sad part is we know that there's tons of it that's going right by us,'' West said.