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Why drug traffickers logging huge highway miles are endangering the public

Drug traffickers driving long distances to transport their illegal wares are putting the public at risk with their non-stop driving, say the RCMP.

"You'll see people going from Montreal to Cape Breton and they're barely stopping to eat or sleep or do anything," said Const. Mark Skinner.

For the first six months of 2016, Nova Scotia RCMP made 199 drug seizures on the province's highways.

Skinner said RCMP often find a range of substances in the cars being driven by traffickers, including cocaine, acid, prescription drugs, methamphetamines, mushrooms and marijuana.

The information provided by the RCMP didn't include the type and quantity of drugs seized.

Camouflage in numbers

Organized crime is usually involved in the movement of illegal drugs, sometimes through an established network with a well-defined hierarchy or just a loose group of people working together.

"It's one of the major ways that people are transporting drugs across the country," said Skinner, "I think that traffickers understand that there are many, many cars that are on the road and that hiding the drugs in one car or one vehicle out of thousands might give them a better chance."

Most drug traffickers are using everyday passenger vehicles like cars, trucks and SUVs to travel on the highways.

Specially trained RCMP officers work to determine if a vehicle is transporting drugs. Tips from the public about suspected drug trafficking also help police target vehicles.

Traffic violations like speeding can also lead to police discovering drugs in a vehicle.

Skinner said people reporting possible drug trafficking or even a car driving erratically can help take traffickers off the highway.

From the highways to Halifax

The destination for some of those trafficked drugs is Halifax, the largest city in the Maritimes. However, the roadways are only one way of getting drugs into the city, said Det. Sgt. Darrell Gaudet.

"It can come in through the mail, come in through the road ... through water," said the head of Halifax Regional Police's drug unit.

After 29 years on the force, Gaudet isn't confident the flow of drugs into the city will ever stop. He said the best solution might not be enforcement, but education.

"Our best thing right now is to educate youth, educate people out there, say this is what can happen to you if you become involved in using these illicit drugs this is how it can affect your life," he said. "It ruins people."