AUTHORITIES TRY NEW TACK TO GET DRUGS OFF STREET

Authorities tried a new drug interdiction method yesterday on about a mile
stretch of northbound U.S. 23/I-475 just south of Central Avenue in
Sylvania Township. Two vehicles were stopped, but nothing was seized during
the nearly four-hour effort.

Authorities monitored drivers' behavior and watched for traffic violations
within the checkpoint area from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It was the first
time about 10 members of the Toledo-Metro Drug Task Force, which included
officers from Toledo and Sylvania Township police and the Ohio Highway
Patrol, tried the enforcement effort.

They stopped the vehicles and searched the area near the highway for any
drugs that may have been tossed from a passing vehicle.

"[Interdiction] is something we do every day, it's just a different method.
It's well known the Ohio Turnpike is monitored heavily, as is I-75, but
I-475 in relation to I-75 and the turnpike could be used as an alternate
route," Toledo police Sgt. Bob Marzec said.

He said drug traffickers use a variety of transportation methods to carry
their drugs, including highways. Authorities stopped one vehicle in a
traffic stop.

The other was a "citizen contact" where police approached the occupants and
identified themselves after it appeared the occupants had vehicle trouble.
During that stop, the driver allowed a drug dog to sniff around the vehicle.

Toledo police Capt. Wes Bombrys said authorities plan to do similar
enforcement efforts in the future, possibly on different days and during
various times of the day.

He said no overtime expense was incurred for the operation. Some money from
the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas fund, a federal program, was used
for the effort.