Posted 1/28/2012 05:17:00 PM by Douglas

Stats for the I-40 drug busts are out for 2011. Drum roll, please:

Department of Public Safety Trooper Gabriel Medrano on Friday released the total amounts of contraband DPS officials seized in the agency’s Amarillo division in 2011.

Medrano said he was unable to provide totals for 2010.

• U.S. currency: $4,169,638
  
• Marijuana: 7,011 pounds
• Cocaine: 685 pounds
• Methamphetamine: 92 pounds
• Codeine: 55,991 grams
• Heroin: 53,956 grams
• Total estimated drug value: $45,733,060

Wow. Three and a half tons of weed? Does the DPS think that there's anyone in the country that actually wanted it that didn't get it? How the fuck do they get out of bed in the morning?

Also, do they get bonus points for the "estimated drug value" pushing upwards of $50 million? We all know the only way they can capitalize on that value, right? Is anyone going to be surprised to find their confiscated products back on the streets?

"Legalizing" drugs is no more of an endorsement of using these horrible substances than making gambling legal: the state shouldn't care if you do it, but instead of spending billions to prevent it, how 'bout they regulate the shit out of it and MAKE money off of taxing it, instead of spending $20 Billion a year in a futile attempt to stop it.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 11/23/2010 05:49:00 PM by Douglas

I've ranted about the police busting drug runners on I-40 so much that I'm bored with it, but then there's this piece about who really benefits from these drug busts. Spoiler alert: The Baptists and the bootleggers always come down on the same side of any prohibition argument.

"Why the counties are complaining I'm not sure. If they want to get out there on the highway and make those traffic stops and such, then they could have a bigger share of those proceeds from any currencies that were seized."

This article is a rambling diatribe about how they seize money. This is the second part of this story, and I can't seem to find part one, which was more focused on "taking the drugs off the street." You know, because there aren't any illegal drugs anywhere.

But the part that burns up (small 'l') libertarians is what a cash cow this is for poor, rural law enforcement agencies. This flies in the face of the "legalize and tax it" argument that comes from those against the drug war. Is this cash/drug seizure just a tax? I haven't seen a prospectus for one of the Cartels (but I bet they're doing better than my 401(k) right now) but does anyone think they're really suffering when they lose a few million dollars to the County Mounties in Podunk, Texas? It's just the cost of doing business for them.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/31/2009 05:26:00 PM by Douglas

One more.

Police seized 263 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop Sunday on Interstate 40 near Amarillo.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/21/2009 01:07:00 PM by Douglas

Three today:

• 11 pounds of weed
• 230 pounds of weed
• 2.2 kg of meth

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/17/2009 08:41:00 AM by Douglas

So what's new about it?

The first day of a new highway drug interdiction program in Potter County pulled in 54 pounds of marijuana.

Potter County deputies stopped a 1998 Nissan Maxima on Interstate 40 near mile marker 64 for speeding.

Potter County Sheriff's Capt. Greg Daniel said the six to 10 deputies who participate in the program are trained in highway interdiction methods and will be patrolling roadways.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/14/2009 12:53:00 PM by Douglas

Another one.

A traffic stop Wednesday on Interstate 40 led to the discovery of nearly $68,000 and about 22 grams of marijuana.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, troopers observed "signs of criminal activity" and smelled burnt marijuana. Troopers began a search of the 2009 Cadillac and allegedly found the money in the men's luggage.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/13/2009 05:58:00 PM by Douglas

Three more

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 3/10/2009 05:15:00 PM by Douglas

Two more busts on I-40. 190 lbs. of weed and another 730 lbs.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/28/2009 12:27:00 PM by Douglas

Another one.

State troopers seized more than 6,100 grams of methamphetamine Thursday afternoon during traffic stop on Interstate 40 near Amarillo, the Department of Public Safety said.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/27/2009 06:51:00 AM by Douglas

Two more drug busts. It's getting hard to keep up with this.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/25/2009 09:30:00 PM by Douglas

If you can't keep it in the trunk, keep it in the family.

A father and son were arrested Monday morning for allegedly transporting 42 pounds of marijuana.

Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped a Dodge pickup for speeding and equipment violation on Interstate 40 near McLean.

This thread may need its own spin-off blog.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/24/2009 05:05:00 PM by Douglas

The cops on I-40 continue to get incredibly lucky.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Barry Dillard, 38, of Greensboro, N.C., was speeding in a Chevrolet van on Interstate 40 in Carson County near Conway. Dillard was traveling home from California. DPS said Dillard gave permission for a vehicle search, which led troopers to discover 415 pounds of marijuana valued around $134,875. The marijuana was found inside two refrigerators stored in the back of the van.

The second stop happened around 9:30 p.m. According to DPS, Helen Johnson was stopped near Conway for speeding in a Chrysler passenger car. Troopers said Johnson and her passenger, Reginald Johnson, showed "signs of criminal activity." Johnson gave troopers permission to search the vehicle. Troopers found 24 pounds of marijuana and 2,000 grams of cocaine in the trunk, worth $7,800 and $146,000, respectively.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/24/2009 12:04:00 PM by Douglas

And again.

A traffic stop near Bushland led to the discovery of 7½ pounds of marijuana and 85 grams of hashish.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 2003 F-150 pickup was stopped for speeding at 1:47 p.m. on Interstate 40.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/07/2009 04:45:00 PM by Douglas

Another one.

Authorities say they found 94 pounds of marijuana on a recreational vehicle that was stopped on Interstate 40 near Groom for a traffic violation.

Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped the vehicle Thursday evening. Troopers said Eric Wood Myers of Encinitas, Calif., was traveling from his hometown to Tappan, N.Y. Myers refused to allow troopers to search the vehicle after they said they observed "signs of criminal activity from the driver."

I really want to know what's going on with this. "Signs of criminal activity from the driver," of course, could be anything, but of course if there was probable cause, say, paraphernalia in plain sight, they'd say so. I wonder if "signs of criminal activity" means he illegally claimed the head of household status on his 2008 1040, of if he just cut the tag off his mattress?

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/03/2009 05:38:00 PM by Douglas

If you're driving with over 100 pounds of junk in your car, why would you ever consent to a search?

A man pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court in Amarillo for possessing 147,000 tablets of benzylpiperazine.

Khoa Thac Nguyen was arrested Dec. 2 after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper discovered the pills in a spare tire in the trunk of the car Nguyen was driving.

Nguyen, 46, was stopped on Interstate 40 in Oldham County for speeding. Troopers asked if they could search Nguyen's black Ford Expedition, registered in California, and he gave his consent, according to an affidavit filed in court.

These are starting to make less and less sense.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 1/09/2009 06:46:00 PM by Douglas

Another couple of drug busts on I-40. Not surprising, but I'm keeping tabs now. These weren't really remarkable.

Two traffic infractions led to confiscation of 211 pounds of marijuana by troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Two stops, 211 pounds. What's the big deal?

Troopers stopped a Chrysler passenger car on a failure to indicate a lane change on Interstate 40 near Groom.

When was the last time you were on a rural interstate, miles from anywhere, and you got pulled over for "failure to indicate lane change?" This is absurd. Not that the brain-washed soldiers in the moronic drug war would ever make up a reasons to perform a search. That only happens in Russia, right?

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 1/01/2009 03:06:00 PM by Douglas

What the hell is going on with the dope runner on I-40?

A vehicle that was pulled over for speeding near Conway led to the discovery of 10 pounds of marijuana.

Valued at $35,000, the marijuana was found in a hidden compartment in the rear of the car.

10 pounds is hardly worth mentioning, but considering how many traffic stops result in HUGE ammounts of weed, either every other car that changes lanes without using its signal is a dope mule, or the cops know something they don't want the rest of us to know. There's just no way they're that lucky. Here's the last month:

• 12/23, 607 pounds
• 12/19, 400 pounds
• 12/13, 2.85 pounds coke

No one's that lucky.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 2/26/2006 12:09:00 PM by Douglas

They just always seem to know what cars to search.

A traffic stop Wednesday afternoon ended with a stay in the Carson County Jail for two Arizona women, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Troopers stopped an eastbound 2006 Lincoln Town Car for a traffic violation along Interstate 40 about a mile east of Groom at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, reports show.

Troopers searched the car, finding 90 pounds of marijuana - worth more than $53,000 - stuffed in suitcases in the trunk, the DPS said.

This same story makes the paper about once a week in Amarillo, so considering the number of cars driving across Texas on I-40, the DPS must be incredibly lucky in determining which cars to search, or there's something else going on here.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 1/01/2006 01:19:00 PM by Douglas

I know the story doesn't say, but I'm a bit curious as to how seemingly "random" traffic stops on the same day could yield so much weed.

Two separate traffic stops on Friday netted Texas Department of Public Safety troopers 246 pounds of marijuana worth more than $110,000.

This just makes no sense. Why would anyone crossing the country with that much weed risk getting pulled over by driving even one mile an hour over the speed limit? But regardless as to why they got pulled over, why would they consent to a search of the vehicle if they knew they were carrying that much weed? That dog don't hunt.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust

Posted 9/14/2005 05:14:00 PM by Douglas

There are millions of cross country trucks on the road right this very second. So why is it that the Department of Public Safety can pull over a truck driver, with surprisingly regularity, search his truck, and find 110 pounds of cocaine?

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found 50 kilograms of cocaine inside a tractor-trailer during a traffic stop Friday morning along Interstate 40 near Groom.

Troopers stopped a 1997 Freightliner tractor-trailer at 8:45 a.m. Friday on eastbound I-40 about 6 miles west of Groom for a traffic violation, the report said.

After receiving consent to search the vehicle, troopers found the cocaine in two U-Haul boxes located under a bed in the sleeper cab of the tractor-trailer, the report said.

A traffic violation led to "consent to search the vehicle?" Why? And if you knew you had 110 pounds of coke in your truck, why on earth would you ever give consent to search?

This same story shows up once a month in the Amarillo Globe-News, and I just don't understand why.

Labels: I-40 Drug Bust