IPD ROADBLOCK RESULTS IN 16 DRUG ARRESTS

INDIANAPOLIS An Indianapolis Police Department roadblock Tuesday netted 16
drug arrests and one unlikely tip.

About 25 IPD officers and three U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents
pulled over 228 vehicles, most at random, at the Morris and Prospect streets
ramp off the northbound lanes of I-65.

There were 29 arrests altogether, including one man who was arrested on a
forgery warrant and several who were arrested for being habitual traffic
offenders.

And there was one especially unlucky man arrested for possession of
marijuana. After he was pulled over, a woman stopped to tell police officers
the man had been involved in a theft at a Speedway gas station a few days
ago, said IPD Lt. Harry Goss.

The woman, an employee at the gas station, "just happened to be driving by,
saw him out there and told us," Goss said.

The roadblock, the fourth IPD has staged in the past few weeks, was part of
a recent crackdown that officials hope will serve as a warning to drug
dealers.

"It made a statement," said Goss, who oversaw the roadblock. "You're not
going to be totally safe driving around with drugs in the car, or with
guns."

IPD officers stopped three cars at a time, at random, Goss said. They were
not targeting specific drivers, he emphasized.

Drivers were asked for their licenses and registrations, and drug-sniffing
dogs were led around the cars. If a scent caught a dog's attention, drivers
were asked to step out of the car so the dog could conduct a more thorough
search, Goss said.

Police stopped drivers who tried to back off the ramp when they realized
there was a roadblock. Drivers who threw items out of the car as they
approached the ramp also were stopped, Goss said.

Although most of the drug arrests involved marijuana possession, one woman
was arrested after she threw two syringes containing heroin out her window,
Goss said.

None of the marijuana seizures involved large amounts, and there were no
cocaine seizures. Goss wasn't surprised that officers didn't find any crack
because crack users usually smoke the drug as soon as they get it, he said.

But he figured officers would find some powdered cocaine.

"I just thought, with that many arrests and people using drugs, that we
would have seen some," he said. "But we didn't."

Checked-by: Don Beck