Ride along with Arkansas State Police troopers patrolling the I-40 ‘drug pipeline’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Interstate 40 is the third longest interstate and is commonly referred to as the “drug pipeline.”

I-40 stretches from the west coast to the east, making it one of the most popular routes to transport illegal drugs.

Of the 2,559 miles of pavement, 285 miles run through Arkansas, leading to a game of hide and seek between those looking to make a lot of money and state police who are on the lookout trying to stop them.

In 2023, Arkansas State Police scored big time seizing more than 11,000 pounds of illegal drugs and $1.4 million.  So far this year, they have already seized more than 6,000 pounds of illegal drugs and $2.4 million.

“It’s astounding when you think about it,” Lt. Dennis Overton with ASP said. “The amount of money, just pure currency that goes down this interstate, it’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we’re seeing.”

Overton said those transporting the illegal drugs come from all levels of society and some are quite shocking.

“We are stopping 75-year-old ladies out here traveling down this interstate by themselves and the whole back end of the car is full of drugs,” Overton said.  “It is crazy.”

Troopers have also encountered “Rent-a-Families,” a tactic commonly used by traffickers to try and deceive law enforcement.

“We’ve actually made stops out here where the person driving the car and the kids were not even related,” Overton said. “They borrowed the kids for the trip or rented them.”

As for where these drugs are coming from, Overton said the landscape has changed.

“We don’t see marijuana coming from Mexico now. That’s not their market. Their market are the opioids, the cocaine, the meth.”

He says the marijuana market has moved to the United States and a substantial portion of what is being seized along I-40 in the Natural State is coming straight from one of our neighbors.

“Oklahoma has legalized marijuana. They have opened the floodgates in the marijuana trade,” Overton said. “They have over 8,000 registered grows in Oklahoma alone. That’s a lot of marijuana so the only way to move that much product is on the black market.”

And that product is moving right through central Arkansas. Authorities say most of it is found during routine traffic stops stuffed in duffel bags in the trunks of cars. Other illegal drugs are found in hidden compartments that are sniffed out by K-9s.

Tracking it all down requires manpower, skill and luck but make no mistake, troopers are active, ready to act if and when they see anything suspicious.

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