Northern California marijuana harvest has Utah's roadways buzzing | United States

Northern California marijuana harvest has Utah's roadways buzzing

It's marijuana harvest time in northern California, and Utah's interstates are flowing with millions of dollars in drugs and cash.

Drug traffickers will go to great lengths to hide drugs and cash to ensure police don't find their stashes, said Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Winward.

In a span of three days, UHP officers arrested 19 people and confiscated more than $2 million in drugs in Summit County.

Eight UHP officers, trained specifically to sniff out motorists trafficking drugs, pulled over hundreds of vehicles for traffic violations on Interstate 80 between Tuesday and Friday night, Winward said.

Sixteen of those stops netted 213 pounds of marijuana, 55 pounds of cocaine and about $11,000 in cash, according to UHP.

"Thursday night, they had four stops within four hours," Winward said. The drugs were found in garbage bags, hidden in spare tires and in compartments added onto vehicles.

"One tried to mask the smell of the marijuana by putting it in containers of grease," Winward said. "Drug transporters are getting more and more savvy and are trying to conceal drugs in compartments."

UHP officials singled out the Summit County stretch of I-80 because it's popular for transporters.

At 2,902 miles long, and spanning 11 states - ending just 4 miles shy of New York City - I-80 and has become a major artery for traffickers moving drugs grown or manufactured in northern California.

UHP's recent drug stops and arrests were somewhat unusual, Winward said. Officers trained to recognize drug traffickers are usually sprinkled throughout the state, and "this is one of the very first times when they had a concentrated effort," he said.

Training helps the officers gauge the mannerisms of suspected drug transporters. Police also look for inconsistencies in their stories, which may give an indication that drugs may be hidden inside their vehicle.

"There are a lot of ways to determine what's going on. [Officers] have picked up specialties," Winward said. If all else fails, police can use a drug-sniffing dog to find what's hidden.

"I have heard of them [taking] a bed off a truck with a false bottom and [welding the bed] back on," he said. "They will have to take the truck apart to get the drugs out. That's the lengths they will go to to move the marijuana."

Authorities are not saying whether similar drug operations will be conducted on the state's freeways. "We don't want to spoil the surprise if there is one," Winward said.

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