DEVICE DELVES INTO HIDDEN AREAS FOR DRUGS, CASH

CROSS CITY -- Outfitted with something that looks a bit like a
flexible medical probe, Dixie County Deputy Mark Garcia can get the
truth out of your car without taking it apart.

Is there cocaine in the gas tank?

Cash stashed in the door panels?

Maybe a bottom floor in the trunk?

Garcia's new tool is a fiber optic unit paid for by the federal
government. The $18,000 instrument has a 4-1/2 foot cable encased in
waterproof material attached to a viewing lens. It lets deputies peer
into otherwise inaccessible spaces. The unit can be operated with one
hand and runs off electricity, such as a battery or a car's cigarette
lighter.

During a demonstration, Garcia showed off the interior of the fuel
system in Sheriff Dewey Hatcher's unmarked car. An ambient blue light
easily lit the small, dark areas, and it was easily manipulated to
show off every portion of the system in a minute or two.

"This is really like a flexible microscope because it lets you see
small object really clearly," Garcia said.

Hatcher said he selected Garcia to become the first user of the device
is because Garcia is also a trainer within the department and a K-9
deputy. When Garcia's dog pinpoints a car, instead of using
screwdrivers and other hand tools to try to find what the dog smells,
Garcia can snake the instrument into the suspected area.

Hatcher said his office got a federal grant that paid for the unit, as
well as the mandatory two days of training, a $20,000 package. The
Department of Defense flew Garcia to Arizona for the training and then
shipped the unit to Dixie County. Now, Garcia is expected to share his
training with others in the department, particularly the
investigators.

"One thing we are looking at is the investigators because we always
have one on call, so if there was a need for the fiber optics to be
used, there would be someone trained and available at all times,"
Hatcher said.

Garcia said he has used the unit once since he received it a couple of
weeks ago. A semi coming through town from south Texas had no trailer,
which was suspicious since the high fuel prices make those kinds of
trips unprofitable. The scope was used to look over the rig, but
nothing unusual was found.

Hatcher expects the instrument will speed searches because the
vehicles won't have to be taken apart to be inspected. Although the
unit was designed as a anti-drug device, Hatcher said he recognizes a
number of other applications, such as viewing activities behind a
barricade or beneath a large object. Garcia said he anticipates it
will be used most often in drug cases.

"Drug dealers have lots of money to hide, and now we're $20,000 closer
to finding those hiding places," Garcia said.