OFFICIALS SAY MORE CRIMINALS TRAVELING ON I-10

GULFPORT (AP) -- Coast officials believe the Interstate 10 corridor is
becoming a popular route for fugitives, drug-runners and weapons smugglers.

Heightened security on planes and trains since Sept. 11 may be driving more
criminals to cross the Mississippi Coast in cars and trucks, officials say.

Coast law enforcement officers have made several recent arrests in
high-profile cases that authorities said began as routine traffic stops on
Interstate 10.

Coast officers are using a technique called criminal interdiction to stop
illegal activity when they find it.

"It's not a matter of trying to stop people and harass or trying to do
racial profiling," said Lt. Tony Sauro of the Harrison County Sheriff's
Department. "In fact, my agency usually gives (warnings) for minor
violations unless we find other problems."

The traffic stops can be for any legal reason, such as tag violations,
speeding and having improper equipment.

Sauro describes criminal interdiction as "taking a traffic stop a step
forward if we have any suspicions or reasonable cause to believe a driver
is engaged in criminal activity or carrying illegal items."

"It's not like we're using Gestapo tactics," Sauro said. "Criminals don"t
play by the rules, but we have to because if we don't handle a case
properly, it won't hold up in court."

Criminal interdiction officers often use dogs trained to sniff out drugs or
explosives. The law allows officers to search drivers and their vehicles
only with a driver's consent or a search warrant.

"About nine out of 10 drivers consent," Sauro said. "When they don't, we
try to get a search warrant, even if it means waking a judge up in the
middle of the night."

Criminal-interdiction officers are trained to observe suspicious mannerisms
such as "when it looks like somebody's about to run, pull a gun or like
they've got something to hide," he said.

Sauro used a fiber-optic scope last week to see why the driver of a pickup
"was acting unusually nervous."

Sauro ran the scope, which is like a camera, down one of the truck's spare
gas tanks and found seven assault rifles and handguns. The tank had been
cut apart and welded back in place.

Biloxi police also made two high-profile arrests during I-10 traffic stops
last week. A woman stopped for a non-working headlight was charged with
having 8 pounds of cocaine and four grams of methamphetamine.

A man stopped for having improper equipment was arrested when sexually
explicit pictures reportedly fell out of his pocket. Police said the
13-year-old girl in the pictures was in the car with him.