THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 57 lines
Three specially trained state police teams are roaming Virginia looking for interstate drug smugglers.
Since March 1995, two of those drug interdiction units have kept watch on out-of-state traffic heading north and south along Interstates 81, 85 and 95.
A third team, in its fourth year of operation, has focused on public transportation centers, such as bus terminals, train stations and airports.
``We've tried to keep a fairly low profile,'' said Mark Petska, assistant special agent in charge of the state police narcotic interdiction unit.
Centrally located between Florida and points north, Virginia has become a major thoroughfare for drug trafficking, Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore said.
``It's really an effective way to impede the flow of narcotics coming to and through Virginia,'' Kilgore said of the interdiction teams.
Authorities are so pleased with the teams that Petska is forming a fourth group of officers who are scheduled to begin patrolling the Tidewater area Sept. 1. That team would concentrate on Interstate 64 and U.S. Routes 13 and 58 and 17, among other routes.
The recent seizure of 55 pounds of cocaine on I-95 in Petersburg highlights what authorities suspect is only a fraction of the drugs that are routinely shuttled into Virginia.
While drug finds of that magnitude occur mostly by chance, state police say they're becoming less rare - due largely to the efforts of the interdiction units.
Since they've been together, the state's two highway interdiction teams - one based along the I-81 corridor, the second along I-95/I-85 - have collectively seized 459 pounds of powdered cocaine, 7 pounds of crack cocaine, 550 pounds of marijuana, 9 ounces of heroin, 14 guns and $570,241 in cash. They have recovered five stolen cars and arrested 99 people on 188 charges.
The state's public transportation team has had similar success, largely in the Richmond area. Surprisingly, police say, the bulk of that unit's drug seizures and arrests have been made at Richmond's Greyhound Bus Terminal.
In the past 18 months, the team has seized 6 pounds of powered cocaine, 34 pounds of crack cocaine, 105 pounds of marijuana, 2 pounds of heroin, 12 guns and $19,786 in cash. It has made 109 arrests.
``The bus stations have probably been their biggest gold mine this year,'' Petska said. ``Most of their seizures have been very consistent. They're getting a kilo of cocaine here, and 10 or 20 pounds of pot there - what people can carry on in handbags, luggage or gym bags.''
Petska said some drug lords have opted to use bus systems to transport drugs because of the increased risk of detection using private vehicles.
Each interdiction team is composed of a sergeant, special agent and two troopers, one which handles a drug-detection dog.
Their stops can pay unexpected dividends. The teams have nabbed nine fugitives from other states this year, including a man on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE POLICE DRUG ARREST by CNB