RIVERSIDE MISSES ON DRUG HIT

When Riverside Police Officer and dog handler Richard Woods is at a
training or in school, Xeno the drug dog stays home. That was bad news
for the Riverside Police Department Tuesday as they missed out on
confiscating three pounds of marijuana from a vehicle headed west on
Interstate 20.

Police Chief Gilbert Norman said they received a tip from another law
enforcement agency that a silver 2001 Mercury Mystique was headed
toward Riverside.

"We received information that the car had a large amount of cash and
the possibility of drugs," Norman said. "Officer Woods was in Georgia
getting more interdiction training, and he is the only one who handles
Xeno."

Norman said the law enforcement agency giving them the tip followed
the car for a short distance but could not stop the vehicle because
they did not have probable cause.

"My department, along with Pell City Investigator Cary Ward, were
watching for the car," Norman said. "When the vehicle crossed the
river bridge on I-20, the driver made an improper lane change and we
pulled him over."

Norman said they found $3,600 in cash but they were unable to
substantiate that the money was drug money so they had to let him go.
Although they did not find any marijuana, Norman said they found two
or three seeds.

Norman described the driver as a Jamaican male in his mid
20's.

"The car had Maryland license plates, and he told me he was from
Baltimore and was headed to Irving, Texas," Norman said. "The car was
a rental car."

According to Norman, however, all is not lost.

"After letting the man go, I called Birmingham, and the Birmingham
interdiction unit pulled him over," Norman said. "Their drug dog hit
and found the marijuana. They confiscated the drugs and money and
arrested the driver. He is in the Birmingham jail."

Norman said this proves how important Xeno is to the town of
Riverside.

"If Xeno and Richard had been available, we would have been right on
the mark," Norman said.

Back on Feb. 21, Pell City police arrested two men traveling I-20
after Xeno helped officers discover 65 pounds of marijuana they were
hiding.