OKLAHOMA'S TURNPIKES MAJOR ROUTES FOR DRUGS

Roadways have already yielded 18 arrests this year

TULSA, Okla. - Increased security at the nation's airports is making toll
roads in Oklahoma prime routes for drug transportation.

So far this year, 18 people face drug charges after being stopped by
Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers on the Turner and Will Rogers turnpikes.

U.S. Attorney David O'Meilia said cartels are beginning to favor ground
transport for drugs because it has become increasingly difficult to get
drugs into coastal cities on planes or ships.

Interstate 44, which includes the turnpikes, is a major corridor used by
drug organizations to move their product from Mexico to major cities such as
Atlanta, New York and Chicago.

Nearly 87 percent of the cocaine and marijuana in the United States was
transported over the roads, officials have estimated.

Drug couriers or mules, as they are called, are paid by the amount of drugs
they are carrying.

Their captures are viewed as a cost of doing business, O'Meilia said.

Twenty-to 60-pound shipments that were once transported by air now are more
prone to ground transport, said Oklahoma Highway Patrol 1st Lt. Jim McBride.

One of the most significant developments in drug interdiction was a Supreme
Court decision that allows evidence in drug cases to be admissible as long
as officers pulled over a vehicle for a legitimate traffic violation,
O'Meilia said.

A review of federal affidavits by The Tulsa World shows that most drug
charges stem from traffic violations like using fog lights when fog is not
present and improper tag display.

Failure to signal a lane change near toll plazas in Vinita and Stroud was
found to be the most common traffic violation in drug cases in the U.S.
Northern District Court.