NO STEREOTYPE FITS MARIJUANA SMUGGLERS ON THE HIGHWAYS

Mules don't do much heavy lifting for farmers anymore, but human "mules'
continue to toil for marijuana traffickers by hauling large, heavy loads
under the noses of police.

Alone or as couples or families - in cars and trucks and motor homes and
virtually anything else with wheels - they glide across Missouri and
Illinois highways with dual purposes of reaching the destination and not
attracting attention along the way.

"We find them everywhere," said Master Sgt. Rick Hector of the Illinois
State Police.

Some have ties to the dealers; some are risk-takers tempted by big money for
quick work.

Eureka police Officer Bill Knittel found two mules on a snowy February
morning in 2003. He stopped Kerstin Sund and Khalilah Wolfe, whose dark blue
Chrysler was swerving east on Interstate 44, just before sunrise. The two
told the officer they were headed to a wedding in Indianapolis, but details
of their stories didn't match.

"It was their stories," Knittel said. "Their stories give it away every
time."

As Knittel popped the trunk of the rental car with Nevada plates, the smell
of nearly 70 pounds of marijuana, worth at least $70,000 at resale, filled
the air.

Sund, the driver, a model from Sweden, was sentenced last month to a 90-day
jail term for felony drug trafficking. Wolfe got a suspended sentence and
probation.

Hundreds are arrested in the region every year, but nobody knows how many
get by, sometimes using clever tricks to hide the goods and to blend in with
everyday traffic.

"Law enforcement works together and we share information," said Shirley
Armstead of the St. Louis office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

But mules work together, too. Tips posted on Web sites outline where police
officers commonly look for drugs during traffic stops.

Narcotics cops often use drug-sniffing dogs. Sometimes the suspects use
dogs, too - to protect the goods. One man's pit bull lunged at a Missouri
trooper during a traffic stop on Interstate 44 near Interstate 270 in
February. The trooper shot the dog in the head before finding 155 pounds of
marijuana - about $150,000 worth. The driver faces charges; the dog
survived.

In that case, as in many others, the marijuana was wrapped in layers of
black trash bags, duct tape and clear plastic wrap - with fabric softener or
perfume slathered between layers to try to hide the scent.

"I'm sure that may work sometimes, but most of the time it doesn't," said
Sgt. Mike Deeba of the St. Louis Police Drug Task Force.

Police said mules often don't see marijuana as being as bad as more potent
illicit drugs. "So people who would have a problem smuggling cocaine or
heroin could think carrying marijuana isn't as bad," Deeba suggested.

He said mules don't fit stereotypes. Some are even parents with small
children, who disguise their runs as family vacations. In one case, Deeba
said he arrested a couple in their 70s with bundles of marijuana hidden in
the trailer they used as their home.

Knittel said some mules have regular jobs and just want to supplement their
incomes.

"Think about it, for $1,000 you could finish work on a Friday, drive to
Texas with a friend, pick up a load and be back home by the end of the
weekend," Knittel said. "It appeals to a lot of people you'd never expect."