The Casper Police Department partnered with other local agencies, as well as the DEA, to perform cannabis trafficking stings during the last two days of March.

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“Did you notice an increased presence of law enforcement around town last week?” a post on the Casper Police Department’s Facebook page asked.

The post then went on to explain that, throughout March 29 and March 30, the Casper Police Department partnered with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, the Mills Police Department, the Evansville Police Department, the Glenrock Police Department, and the Casper-Natrona County Public Safety Communication Center to carry out a Drug Interdiction Operation.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppresion Program (DCE/SP) helped make that possible.

In 2019, the CPD was asked to participate in this program but, due to COVID-19, they were unable to do so in 2020. Because of that, 2021 was the first year the CPD was able to hold its first Drug Interdiction Operation. They did so on March 29 and 30.

“According to the DEA, Marijuana is the only major drug of abuse grown within the U.S. borders,” the CPD post noted. “The DEA is aggressively striving to halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the United States. To accomplish this, the DEA initiated the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP), which is the only nationwide law enforcement program that exclusively targets Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO) involved in cannabis cultivation.”

CPD explained that the grant funding from the DEA allows departments to conduct targeted operations to help prevent the presence and the transportation of illegal drugs, including marijuana, in the community. It also prevents the criminal activity associated with the aforementioned transportation.

CPD stated that their goal with this type of operation is to “have a highly visible, highly saturated presence in targeted areas of the community.”

In doing so, they noted, officers are able to conduct more traffic stops on vehicles that have violated traffic laws. Once a vehicle is pulled over, if the interaction between the driver and the officer shows potential evidence of illegal substance use or presence, the officer then has additional resources who are able to more effectively and efficiently assist the officer, should further investigation be required.

CPD stated that these types of operations also allow for larger police presence to decrease traffic infractions and increase roadway safety. This is accomplished, they said, through seat belt and child restraint enforcement, as well as enforcing other traffic laws, such as speeding.

Throughout those last two days in March, nearly thirty officers a day participated in the operation. They targeted main entrances and exists to the cities, as well as main thoroughfares, looking for traffic violations.

Officers from all different agencies participated in this operation and, over the course of fourteen total hours (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the first day and 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. the second day), they were able to yield some staggering results.

  • Total traffic stops: 389
  • Speed Citations: 80
  • Moving Violation Citations: 26
  • Seatbelt/Child Restraint Citations: 9
  • Warnings: 269
  • Arrests: 23 (13 drug-related, 6 warrant related, 3 alcohol-related)

Drugs Seized

  • Marijuana: 520.82grams (includes a single vehicle carrying 1lb of marijuana), 600mg THC edibles, 1 gram THC wax, multiple vehicles with user amounts of marijuana and THC edibles.
  • Meth: 66.7 grams
  • Cocaine: 1 gram

“Our Community can be proud of the pro-active efforts our officers are making to keep this community safe through prevention,” said Casper Police Special Operations Lieutenant Ryan Dabney. “Our officers take personal responsibility for putting together operations such as this to address needs they identify while on and off duty. We are grateful to have the resources offered through this DEA-funded program to further our drug prevention efforts in Casper. As the results show from this short fourteen-hour operation – our officers’ are accurately identifying needs in our community; then creatively, and effectively, working to solve them. That is true community policing.”

Wyoming is just one of 13 states in which some form of marijuana consumption is not yet legal.

You can learn more about the DEA Domestic Cannabis Suppression/Eradication Program by visiting: dea.gov/domestic-cannabis-suppression-eradication-program

 

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