Trooper Earl Dessert sits in the driver's seat of a dark green Vermont State Police cruiser, the occasional squeal from the radar drowning out the intermittent highway noise.
This particular vehicle, like only a few others in Troop D, the Brattleboro barracks, has a high-tech, in-car computer. Various pieces of information, like the location of other troopers, are available with the push of a button.
Despite all the distractions, Dessert remains focused on vehicles heading north or south on either side of the cruiser as he sits in an emergency turnaround on Interstate 91. There is still a bit of light left in the sky, enough for Dessert to be able to glance inside the cars at the drivers.
Without warning, the lights of his cruiser flash on. He puts the car into drive and swings into the northbound lane of I-91 in Putney.
***
The stop was one of many Dessert would initiate along I-91 that night, most of which, Dessert said, involved normal, innocent and decent people just heading from Point A to Point B on one of New England's most important highways.
Interstate 91 snakes through Vermont for 177 of the highway's 290 total miles.
With a starting point
For the most part, the highway, completed in 1978, runs through typical, billboard-free, Vermont scenery until hitting the Canadian border at Derby Line.
From both ends of the Vermont portion of the highway, it is no secret that drugs are trafficked in and out of the state. Law enforcement agencies struggle to keep up with the influx of drugs, most of which are just passing through.
Not all of the drugs remain in the cars, however. Some of those cars take an exit to unload some of their stash.
Sgt. Eric Albright, patrol commander for the state police Brattleboro barracks, estimated recently that 95 percent of its drug arrests occur on the 20-something miles of the interstate in its patrol area. Those busts haven't been minor infractions either: 100 pounds of marijuana, better than a pound of cocaine, $250,000 in cash, $750,000 in cash stuffed in a gas tank, 800 bags of heroin, large amounts of Ecstasy and a variety of other drugs have all been seized by Vermont State Police right on I-91 in Windham County.
But how drug busts are made in New York City and how they're made in Vermont are two different styles of law enforcement.
"What people don't understand is that we're a rural state," said Albright. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 99 percent of the crimes perpetrated in this state start with a traffic violation."
When a criminal is pulled over on the side of the highway, that's when they are most vulnerable, Albright said. For that reason, police officers need to be extremely attentive, looking for one of many signs that could lead to the next drug bust.
"It's basically being a keen observer and paying attention to the little things that can indicate any kind of criminal activity, not just drugs," Albright said.
***
As Dessert sped toward the minivan on I-91 northbound, he explained that there was a thin space at the top of the windows of the vehicle where the window tinting did not reach. That is how he knew the tint was illegal.
With the minivan pulled over in the breakdown lane, Dessert explained to the Washington state-based driver that his tint is illegal in Vermont.
"Do you have any illegal guns, drugs or large amounts of cash in the vehicle?" he asked.
The driver hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No."
Dessert called him on the hesitation.
"Are you sure?"
"To be honest, officer, I have a little bit of bud," the driver said, admitting that he had a small amount of marijuana in the car.
Soon the driver was taken out of the vehicle and told to wait while another trooper showed up to assist at the scene while Dessert searched the car (with the driver's consent).
No more drugs were found in the van, and Dessert made the decision to destroy the drugs and paraphernalia and give the driver a warning for the window obstruction.
Dessert explained there were several factors that influenced him making that decision: First, the driver had no criminal record. Second, the marijuana found was a very small amount and was clearly for personal use. It also didn't hurt that the driver was forthcoming about what he had on him.
***
In 2003, Vermonter Kelly Bruce, 19, of Orleans, was in a car that was pulled over for speeding on I-91 northbound in Hampshire County, Mass., according to a report by James Lowe, a reporter with the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Mass.
The car was searched, turning up 13 grams of cocaine and 184 bags of heroin. Bruce eventually told investigators that he often made the 400-mile trip from Orleans to Holyoke, Mass., to pick up heroin, stating that near his home, a bag would run somewhere around $40. In Holyoke, he could pick one up anywhere from $6 to $10.
"Holyoke and Springfield are big source cities for all the drugs that end up in the Brattleboro area," said Sgt. Andrew Bzdel of the Massachusetts State Police in Northampton.
For that reason, the patrol of I-91 by state police in Massachusetts is important to the flow of drugs into Vermont. Gone are the days when the biggest threat was bags of marijuana. The hard stuff -- large amounts of heroin and cocaine -- mostly originates in cities like Springfield or Holyoke.
Bzdel said recently that police in his area have been noticing a disturbing trend that complicates officers' ability to find drugs. Traffickers have resorted to storing drugs inside their body to conceal them. He said in some cases, the best way to find those drugs is to get the person arrested for something else, such as finding drugs elsewhere in the car, and get the person to produce the drugs from his or her body at the station.
But when it comes down to trying to eliminate the number of drug traffickers trying to make their way north, there is work to be done, Bzdel said.
"I wish I could tell you that putting more police on the road would solve the problem," he said. "It's just one piece of the puzzle."
Other pieces include more enforcement in the source cities, education of both users and innocent civilians in those source cities, treatment and stiffer sentences.
"There's not one answer," he said, adding "Unfortunately that costs a lot of money."
***
Dessert, later in his patrol, again parked the cruiser at an emergency turnaround. The car was positioned in a way where he could pick up radar from both sides of the highway. By now, it was dark -- the northbound lane was a stream of bright headlights, the southbound lane filled with red dots.
"All the drugs that come into this state, mostly are by motor vehicle," Dessert said. "State police are out there doing a lot of motor vehicle work, looking to stop or slow the drug trafficking."
Again, without warning, Dessert shifted his car into drive, this time heading south toward the Massachusetts border. As the cruiser's engine whined and a handful of cars passed, Dessert explained that he spotted a car with its license plate light out.
The driver, a New Hampshire man on his way to see his girlfriend in New York City, received a written warning after he and Dessert shared a brief conversation about motorcycles.
Back in the cruiser, Dessert explained how his biggest drug bust on the highway began just as this previous traffic stop did -- the tiny light above the license plate was out. It turned out the car was carrying 10 pounds of marijuana.
Next: It's not just an urban issue anymore: Drugs in a rural setting.
Patrick J. Crowley can be reached at pcrowley@reform-er.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 277.
Part 1: The drug trade hits home
Part 3: The meth issue: No one is immune
Part 4: Searching for the cure
Part 5: Officials take a case-by-case approach
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