POLICE SCORING BIG LATELY IN TRAFFICKING GAME

The dog alerted, signaling to its handlers that it smelled drugs. It could
have been some marijuana in the driver's pocket, or the car might have just
dropped off a large drug shipment.

A search last week by Lee County Sheriff's Office deputies of a car coming
from Texas on I-75 turned up neither. But law enforcement workers cruising
the busy roadway looking for drug traffickers are aware that each stop they
make could just as easily be the big one.

"It's hit or miss," said Sheriff's Office Capt. D. Ferrante. "There is no
way to plan."

A stop on I-75 one week ago by a Collier County sheriff's deputy led to the
seizure of 250 kilograms of cocaine from a semitrailer. The drugs had a
street value of $10 million.

While not on that scale, the Lee County Sheriff's Office too has made
several high-profile drug seizures on the roadway, including a 24-hour
period last month where in two stops deputies seized $50,000 worth of
cocaine and 26 pounds of marijuana.

The stops that commonly led to such seizures fall under what is known as
drug interdiction, essentially authorities working to try to cut off the
narcotic trade's supply source.

Both the Florida Highway Patrol and the Sheriff's Office patrol I-75 in Lee
County, looking to legally stop and search as many vehicles as possible in
a quest for traffickers.

"It's a game," said FHP Sgt. Dan Hinton said. "It's a game of cat and mouse."

Both the Sheriff's Office and the highway patrol's drug interdiction units
make frequent, selective traffic stops on I-75.

They pull drivers over for violations such as speeding or malfunctioning
equipment. Then, Hinton said, they talk to the drivers and passengers. They
ask questions and look for hints that could reveal a trafficker.

Troopers and deputies work together with dogs trained to detect the
presence of narcotics during a search of, or, in some cases, even a walk
around the car.

One constant in stops that turn up drugs is that the people moving
narcotics often are from another state, Ferrante said. Other than that, he
and other interdiction experts say there is no stereotype, no predictable
model for who might be carrying drugs.

It could be a man, but it might be a woman, Ferrante said.

"A lot of times you'll see ones who look like the classic grandma and
grandpa in a mobile home," he said.

All kinds of people are moving drugs though Southwest Florida, Hinton said.
A stop might turn up someone carrying a couple ounces of narcotics and a
few hundred dollars, or 200 kilograms of drugs and several hundred thousand
dollars, he added.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the state ranks second in
the nation for drug trafficking. Federal drug seizures took 14,329.7
kilograms of cocaine alone in the state last year.

More than 8,000 miles of coastline provide ample opportunity for smugglers
to move drugs without using highways, a fact that led the Sheriff's Office
recently to add a marine drug interdiction team.

Sheriff's Office Maj. Jeff Taylor said the team, which started under
Sheriff Mike Scott, is an example of the agency's recently stepped-up
levels of interdiction.

Since January, deputies have seized $140,169 in drug proceeds and narcotics
with a street value of $147,000, according to the LCSO.

Vehicles and guns also have been seized.

Both the road patrols and the interdiction deputies working on the water
are under Ferrante's direct command.

While the marine interdiction unit has yet to make any seizures, he said
the team is gathering intelligence while working undercover. It has been a
way for the Sheriff's Office to spot trends and identify possible
smugglers, he added, not only of narcotics but of humans and other offenses.

The first week the team was out, they made an arrest of a man wanted for
murder in Texas, Taylor said.

No matter what kind of vehicle is being used to move drugs, traffickers
resort to similar methods.

Taylor said there have been cases of boats having special hollows to hide
drugs, and authorities have located similar stashes in cars.

Smugglers wrap drugs tightly in plastic, too, or try to use scents such as
black pepper to throw off the dogs, Taylor said.

Others try to avoid being searched all together.

Some traffickers travel with their families, believing the presence of
children will throw troopers off, Hinton said.

"It's a ploy," he said. "A ruse."

Hinton, who has been involved in interdiction efforts for 17 years, said
drug trafficking is cyclical.

He has seen trends in drugs seized move from hydroponic marijuana to
prescription drugs to cocaine.

Cutting into the trade takes work by federal, state and local authorities,
Hinton said.

In Collier County, the DEA's Naples Task Force conducted "Operation Flash
in the Pan" in April. With participants from Glades, Hendry and Collier
counties, as well as the Clewiston and Naples police departments, the task
force is targeting drugs and cash moving along I- 75.

In April, the task force, along with the Collier County Sheriff's Office
and FHP made a traffic stop that ultimately led to the seizure of 615
pounds of marijuana from a Naples home.

A spokeswoman in the DEA's Miami office said Tuesday the operation does not
extend to Lee County.

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AT A GLANCE -- Lee County Sheriff's Office drug interdiction by the numbers

Since January:

380 vehicles stopped

46 citations

350 warnings

13 felony arrests on narcotics offenses

9 misdemeanor arrests

Seized:

Three vehicles

Two AK-47 semi-automatic weapons

174.4 pounds of marijuana

2.10 pounds of cocaine

47 grams of heroin

3 ounces of crack cocaine

$140,169 in drug proceeds

Source: Lee County Sheriff's Office