DPS POT BUSTS SOAR

Marijuana seizures made by officers with the Arizona Department of Public
Safety in Coconino County in 2003 doubled from the previous year.

And one official credits better training of the patrol officers with the
increase.

Det. Tom Perkins with the DPS office in Flagstaff said that in 2003,
officers seized 10,631 pounds of marijuana, 73.5 pounds of cocaine and 51
pounds of meth.

Perkins credited the patrol officers for the increase.

"They're getting really good at detection," Perkins said. "They're picking
up on the indicators and are going through a lot of formal training."

A sharing of information among other agencies, particularly on the border
with Mexico, has helped, Perkins said.

"A lot of the indicators that are being picked up on the border we're
starting to see up here," Perkins said. "And so the guys, instead of just
writing a ticket and cutting a person loose, they're asking questions and
looking for indicators."

Perkins said he is unsure if the increase in seizures is attributable to
more drugs coming across the border.

"I don't think anybody knows the volume of drugs coming across the border,"
Perkins said. "The experts claim law enforcement is only getting 10 percent
of the drugs coming across the border. I have to disagree with that,
because unless you know the actual number coming across the border, you
can't be sure."

According to information kept by the Metro anti-narcotics task force, which
investigates street-level drug crime, the street value of drugs are:
Marijuana: $25 a quarter-ounce. Cocaine: $100 to $160 a gram. Meth: $80 to
$120 a gram.

Broken down into Flagstaff street values, the worth of the drugs seized by
DPS in Coconino County in 2003 are: Marijuana: $17 million. Cocaine: $3.29
million (This number does not take into account that the drug can be
"diluted" with other chemicals to increase the total volume of the drug to
be sold.)

Meth: $1.83 million (This number does not take into account that the drug
can be "diluted" with other chemicals to increase the total volume of the
drug to be sold.)

According to information released by the Drug Enforcement Administration,
in the year 2002, the DEA reported seizures along Arizona's border of
55,000 pounds of marijuana, 1,080 pounds of cocaine, 288 pounds of meth and
121U2 pounds of heroin.

Doug Hebert, DEA assistant special agent in charge in Arizona, said that
final seizure numbers from DEA investigations for 2003 are 242,805 pounds
of marijuana, 1,888 pounds of cocaine, and 132 pounds of meth.

Seizures of cocaine and marijuana increased. Hebert said the increase is
due to a combination of several elements. But primarily, DEA investigations
are targeting higher-level traffickers responsible for distribution of
drugs into Arizona.

"When you're dealing at higher levels, you tend to make larger seizures in
your investigations," Herbert said.

DEA information states that Arizona borders the Mexican State of Sonora,
which is a "major trafficker stronghold." Along the 350 miles of border
with Arizona, there are three principal ports of entry: Nogales, Douglas,
and San Luis. There are also three secondary ports of entry: Lukeville,
Sasabe, and Naco.

"Most of the border area consists of inhospitable desert and steep mountain
ranges, which are sparsely populated, infrequently patrolled by law
enforcement, and ideal for drug smuggling," states the DEA information.
"Arizona serves primarily as a drug importation and transshipment state."

Jim Molesa, with the Flagstaff office of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, said he is not surprised with the increased seizures by DPS
in Coconino County.

There are nine established roads that travel from Arizona into Mexico,
Molesa said.

"And drug traffickers, much like anybody else, take the path of least
resistance," Molesa said. "It's much easier to travel on paved roads."

And all of those roads, at some point feed into bigger roads, like
Interstate 19, I-10 and I-40.

"And those are basically the gateways to the rest of the United States,"
Molesa said.

Molesa said he doesn't see the seizures decreasing any time soon.

"The United States has created such an economy for these controlled
substances, we as a country have such an appetite for it," Molesa said.

So if a Mexican or South American farmer has the choice between a
legitimate crop like wheat or soy beans, or illegal crops like coca leaves
or marijuana that produce "significantly more dollars," the illegal crops
will win out every time.

As long as there's a market for drugs, they will continue to be produced,
Molesa said.