Cops hit pot jackpot
Photo by CHANSE WATSON ISP Troopers display just a fraction of the marijuana and other items they seized during a three-day emphasis in Shoshone County. The items shown came from three separate incidents.
A male suspect is taken into custody following a traffic stop on eastbound I-90 next to Pinehurst. Witnesses reported seeing officials pulling out large amounts of marijuana from the vehicle the suspect was operating.
Cpl. Kevin Kessler removes storage bags of marijuana from a much larger bag to stack them. Kessler and his drug detection K9, Ace, are residents of the Silver Valley and have been instrumental in several trafficking busts over the years.
A quantity of psychedelic mushrooms, marijuana and a firearm that were seized in addition to the larger pot busts.
By CHANSE WATSON
Managing Editor
COEUR d’ALENE — Motorists on Interstate 90 may have noticed a substantial law enforcement presence near the Shoshone/Kootenai County line earlier this week. The increased manpower was due to Idaho State Police and cooperating agencies conducting a criminal interdiction emphasis in the Silver Valley.
The most recent operation, from March 19-21, was unique as ISP dedicated the entire first day to training. Instructors gave a basic course on criminal interdiction at ISP headquarters in Coeur d’Alene and taught newer troopers and deputies just how an operation like this works.
On the second day, law enforcement officials with several agencies including the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office, Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and Osburn Police Department, took to the road — focusing mainly on parts of I-90, Highway 58 and Highway 2.
That’s when the task force yielded its biggest illegal substance seizure of the operation.
KCSO Deputy and K9 handler Rick Lyons explained that around 2 p.m., “We stopped a vehicle out of Iowa and that seizure ended up being 250 pounds of marijuana located in the back of a pickup.”
That amount would be joined by two more smaller, but almost as substantial, marijuana seizures later in the operation. By the end, ISP and KCSO had accrued close to 500 pounds of marijuana and a few pounds of butane hash oil (highly concentrated THC).
With Idaho neighboring two states to the west that have legalized recreational marijuana, trafficking situations like this occur frequently. ISP Trooper and K9 handler Kevin Kessler said almost all of the busts of this size involve an individual or individuals acquiring marijuana in bulk on the West Coast, then attempting to travel back east to sell it for a profit. The three large weed seizures in this emphasis, for example, were from suspects coming from west to east.
Kessler is aware that many get upset when they hear about Idaho police making marijuana seizures, but he said this kind of weight wouldn’t be OK even in a state where it’s legal.
“People need to understand that even in Oregon and Washington where it’s quote-unquote ‘legal,’ this is not bought legally. You can’t go to a store and buy in bulk like this.”
He added that quantities like these usually come from a black market and are grown illegally, not provided through a licensed dispensary.
Even though it took center stage due to the amount seized, marijuana was not the only substance found during the emphasis. Troopers and deputies also made arrests for possession of methamphetamine, heroine, cocaine, ecstasy and even a significant amount of psychedelic mushrooms.
The fact that all of this was seized in just two days shows the reality of the drug trafficking trade.
“This is just proof that this happens probably daily and we’re just not able to work that much right now until we have the time and manpower,” Lyons said.
Kessler stressed that the main goal of operations like this is “traffic safety as well as apprehension of those engaging in criminal activity on the highways,” but when you operate on a road that connects one side of the country to the other, you deal with a lot of drug cases.
“Obviously we encounter drugs more just because that is the trend in our area,” he said. “This just shows the drug trafficking problem on Interstate 90. It’s a major corridor, it goes all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast and it’s every type of drug we are seeing out there.”
Illegal substances aside, the emphasis also yielded several warrant arrests on wanted felons and four day-time DUIs (this includes alcohol or drug influence).
On behalf of ISP, Kessler thanked all the assisting agencies for their help.
Annual emphasis operations like this one occur all over the state as products of the Domestic Highway Enforcement Initiative.