While I-80 is considered a major corridor in the United States between the east and west, drug traffickers are likely rethinking their usual route. In the last 5 weeks, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office out of Rock Springs has seized over $3 million dollars worth of drugs from out of state traffickers passing through. Since the end of October, they have made 6 felony drug arrests and seized in excess of 650 pounds of high-grade marijuana with a street value of over $3.3 million dollars as well as quantities of methamphetamine, heroin and other drug paraphernalia. Sheriff Mike Lowell is giving credit to the agency’s special K9 teams and has emphasized that his agency has no intention of slowing down. “Interstate 80 is a major – if not the major – east-west corridor across the United States,” shares Sheriff Lowell. “A typical traffic count for I-80 in Wyoming registers about 13,000 vehicles per day. It’s no surprise that drug traffickers use it extensively, and we will continue to be on the lookout for them.” The most recent arrest was a San Diego man arrested after around 200 pounds of marijuana was seized from his vehicle following a traffic stop.
