ISP, KCSO wrap up I-90 interdiction operation

WOLF LODGE — Motorists from Coeur d'Alene heading east, or motorists from Shoshone County heading west, may have noticed an increased police presence the last few days on Interstate 90 from Fernan to the Wolf Lodge area. Idaho State Police and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office state that this was due to their agencies conducting a three-day HIDTA (High intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Highway Interdiction Operation.

Operations such as these pull together law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies and concentrate them in a specific area — sometimes focusing on a specific crime. In this most recent case, units had their sights on any crime coming in and out of Kootenai County.

"We like to work with ISP on these operations," KSCO Sgt. John Brandel said. "It's always a good opportunity for us to go out there and not only make an impact by hopefully getting some drugs off the highway, but to also get wanted people with (illegally possessed) guns."

Speaking of drugs and illegal guns, law enforcement located plenty of both after conducting more than 100 traffic stops in roughly a 10-mile stretch of I-90.

Among the more than 15 arrests made during the operation, five involved significant amounts of methamphetamine being seized. The only DUI arrest made also involved meth — as the driver was under the influence of it at the time.

While these types of operations have been known for busting marijuana traffickers in the past, only one was arrested over the course of three days.

An ISP spokesperson who spoke with the News-Press added that this operation yielded seizures of several illegally possessed or stolen firearms (many being linked with the drug arrests).

One of the incidents where a stolen weapon was recovered, referred to by the ISP spokesperson as the "highlight of the operation," was when KCSO pulled over a westbound vehicle suspected of being involved in a recent Shoshone County burglary.

Shoshone County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jeff Lee told the News-Press that on Tuesday, an SCSO deputy was dispatched to the east fork of Pine Creek for a report of a possible burglary at multiple locations. While enroute, the deputy passed a suspicious looking vehicle with no license plates, a loud exhaust, and extremely dark tint.

Upon pulling the vehicle over, the deputy ended up seizing marijuana paraphernalia and citing the two occupants for possession. He also noticed items in the car with names on them that did not match the occupants — identified as Brandon Kindred and Shayna Stevenson.

Keeping all the names in mind, the deputy carried on to the scene of the crime, where he and the reporting party discovered broken into properties and other stolen items stashed in the woods nearby. With some of those items having the same names on them as the ones in the car, SCSO immediately put out an Attempt To Locate (ATL) on the vehicle.

Around 1 p.m., KCSO deputies spotted Kindred and Stevenson heading west on I-90 and pulled them over.

When they were taken into custody, the duo were caught with multiple stolen high-dollar items from the east Fork Pine Creek area – including a gun – along with methamphetamine and paraphernalia.

"Glad that we could help out Shoshone County and get those folks off the street," Sgt. Brandel said.

On top of the burglary arrests, the operation also yielded several felony fugitive arrests — one of which was an individual wanted for murder and aggravated assault from California.

"A lot of bad people went to jail during this operation," the ISP spokesperson said. "It just shows that with teamwork between agencies, we can accomplish a lot and deter a lot of crime in our communities."