SUMMIT COUNTY'S DRUG TRAFFICKING VOLUME DEBATED

SUMMIT COUNTY - Several Colorado counties, including Jefferson and Eagle,
qualify for federal funding to fight drug trafficking. Summit County does
not, a fact Silverthorne Police Sgt. Mark Beluscak and District Attorney
Mike Goodbee find ironic.

"It doesn't seem logical that Denver and Eagle counties would be designated
as HIDTA counties and Summit County is not," he said. "Certainly these cars
aren't flying from Denver to Eagle County."

HIDTA stands for High Impact Drug Trafficking Areas. While being designated
a HIDTA county is hardly a mark of honor, it does bring extra money with
which to fight drug trafficking to agencies within those areas.

Beluscak points to Saturday's seizure in Silverthorne of 162 pounds of
marijuana and a January Colorado State Patrol arrest on I-70 near Frisco
for possession of 70 pounds of cocaine, as clear evidence of Summit
County's drug issues.

But Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain HIDTA, says Summit County's
drug issues simply don't appear severe enough to warrant the federal
designation. That, he says, is something about which the county's residents
should be happy.

"That's a positive," he said. "There are federal funds attached to the
HIDTA program, but quite frankly, I'd rather not need them. That doesn't
mean (Summit doesn't) have a drug problem, but the HIDTA program is high
intensity, and those areas aren't thought to be high intensity.

"I-70 is a corridor - there's no doubt about it," Gorman said. "But the
impact I-70 has on Silverthorne, Frisco, Dillon - if a person just drives
through the area, it has no impact. If they stop there, if the drugs are
destined for there, if they originate from that area, if one of the
couriers is from that area, then it has an impact."

Goodbee said he applied for HIDTA designation for Summit and Clear Creek
counties last year, but the request was denied.

"Whether or not Summit, Eagle and Clear Creek county are in fact
high-intensity drug trafficking areas is certainly something that's open
for debate," Goodbee said. "What I do know is that Jefferson and Garfield
(Glenwood Springs) counties are HIDTA eligible, and drugs don't just hop
over the mountain.

"Clearly, we're not Miami and we're not San Diego, but I think it would be
naive to say we don't have intense trafficking over the interstate."

Summit County Sheriff Joe Morales said he doesn't want the HIDTA designation.

"I don't think it's a good thing," he said. "That means a lot of heavy
narcotics, not just usage but smuggling and distribution. When it comes to
citizens and kids, I think it would be an unfair label just for some
federal dollars. I don't think it's worth it."

Eagle County, Gorman said, remains on the HIDTA list, but no longer
receives funding due to political jockeying between Eagle County law
enforcement agencies.

The state's most problematic areas, not surprisingly, are where the
greatest numbers of people live.

"The metro-Denver area is the worst," Gorman said. "Colorado Springs,
Pueblo, Grand Junction."

The Four Corners area, the point in southwestern Colorado at which four
states meet, is also a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

Beluscak still believes Summit County should gain HIDTA status and the
funding that comes with it. He points out that in cities such as Denver, an
arrest like Saturday's would not have caused a stir.

"One of the ways the federal government determines what becomes a High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area is the amount of drug busts," he said. "In
a small commutniy, even though they may have fewer drug busts, the impact
is greater than in a larger community. They've never taken into account the
community's size, only the number of arrests."