HIGHWAY 281 GETS SCRUTINY IN DRUG WAR

HURON, S.D. (AP) -- The well-traveled interstate highways in South
Dakota aren't the only roads getting attention as drug transportation routes.

Beadle and Brown counties are among 74 counties in the government's
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas in the Midwest because of U.S.
Highway 281.

"It's not a major artery; it gets them off the interstate and I think
that's why it was identified as a route because it does get the
traffic, and it's a great alternate north-south route rather than
using Interstate 29," said Beadle County State's Attorney Mike Moore.

In May, the Department of Justice issued strategic overview of the
illicit drug situation in the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas,
or HIDTA, in six Midwest states.

HIDTA regions were established in the early 1990s to identify areas
where it is believed illegal drugs are being transported in high quantities.

The Midwest HIDTA counties are in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa
and Missouri and are connected an extensive transportation
infrastructure. Most major interstate highways in the northern United
States pass through an intersect in the six-state region.

Law enforcement agencies working the high-trafficking routes receive
federal funding for added patrols and officers trained on what to
look for in their drug interdiction efforts, Moore said.

Drug dogs are based in Brown and Davison counties, and Beadle County
has a drug agent working for the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

The Justice Department assessment said drug traffickers use South
Dakota as an indirect route to other markets.

The Highway Patrol has reported numerous drug seizures on Interstate
90, particularly in the western part of the state.