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Amanda Butterfield ReportingPolice in Utah took 350 pounds of marijuana off the streets just a few days ago. You saw the pictures on KSL. Even troopers couldn't believe how big this bust was.
Trooper Lance Christensen: "Yeah, that is a lot of any kind of drug."
But they've made even bigger busts. After that pot bust we showed you on Monday night, we made some calls to find out just how many illegal drugs are being shipped through Utah. We found that if you're traveling I-15 or I-80, chances are you've driving next to a drug smuggler.
Utah Highway Patrol considers it drug trafficking if it's over four ounces of an illegal substance. Compare that amount to hundreds of pounds of marijuana. You get the idea-- that's a big bust.
And it's not just marijuana being transported.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "Cocaine, meth, you name it. Ecstasy is big, too."
Those are the drugs flowing through Utah even as we speak.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "Historically it comes from south and west-- Arizona, California, from Mexico."
Investigators haven't figured out yet where all of this dope was coming or going. This bust netted 350 pounds of high quality weed, but UHP has seen more.
They confiscated 500 pounds of weed on I-70. It was found under a hard cover in the bed of a pick-up truck.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "Anything and anywhere-- doors, engines, roofs."
Trooper Lance Christensen is part of the Criminal Interdiction Team, a group that specifically looks for drug traffickers on Utah's roads.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "It's something we aggressively go after."
Another time, 300 pounds of cocaine was taken off of I-80. It was worth three-million dollars. Heroin was removed from a spare tire in a car traveling on I-80 in Summit County. Meth was was removed from a hidden compartment in a Jag. And dope was found on a Greyhound bus traveling I-70.
In all of these busts, dogs, like Robbie, sniffed it out.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "Highway Patrol has one of the largest K-9 teams in state, spread out. It's another tool for us."
The Interdiction Team is realistic about their mission, and they know a couple hundreds pounds of drugs here and there isn't going to bring down the drug world. But it's something.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "We're making a dent."
And it's defiantly making Utah more safe. Like in the case of Monday's pot bust, Troy Coats won't be delivering drugs to your neighborhood anytime soon.
Trooper Lance Christensen/UHP: "We're taking a major criminal off the streets."
Here's another way getting drugs off the roads makes you more safe: It's common for drug deliverers to be under the influence when they're driving. By pulling them over, UHP is reducing the number of wrecks on the roads.
