Mexican Drug Cartels in America

Traffic shifts from major interstate routes

Source: Alan Riquelmy - ariquelmy@ledger-enquirer.com

Atlanta area remains a major hub for moving drugs and cash

It makes sense that illegal drugs from Mexico move on interstates to Atlanta, a hub for the Southeast, and then along spokes to smaller communities like Columbus.

But drug traffickers often take detours — and make drops — in Columbus before reaching Georgia’s capital.

Interdiction teams along Interstate 85 have made plenty of busts in places such as Montgomery, Ala., and LaGrange, Ga.

Someone worried about being caught while driving through Montgomery might take state and federal highways to Dothan, Ala., then drive north to Phenix City and onto J.R. Allen Parkway on the way to either Atlanta or Macon.

“They’re taking alternate routes because of the heat on the interstate,” said Russell County Sheriff’s Lt. Heath Taylor. “That means Columbus and Phenix City are in the middle of it.”

Sgt. Rick Stinson, a Columbus police officer with the Metro Narcotics Task Force agrees. And a Columbus dealer with good contacts, he said, can convince someone carrying drugs to stop here if it works out to be easier.

Conversely, a local dealer will drive to Atlanta if that is the route of least resistance.

Agencies in Metro include the Columbus Police Department, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, the Russell County Sheriff’s Department and the Phenix City Police Department.

Removing Atlanta as a drug hub likely wouldn’t change anything, Stinson said. Certain people will always be willing to provide drugs, but law enforcement can make it more difficult, just as education programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education aim to stem the drug tide.

“You’re not going to stop a supply as long as there’s a demand,” he said. “Somebody’s going to step up and probably supply a certain portion of that demand.”



A month ago, an 18-wheeler was stopped and found to have around $1 million inside, Taylor said.

Two weeks ago, a former Phenix City police officer who’s now with the state patrol stopped an 18-wheeler near Montgomery. It had a huge amount of drugs inside, Taylor said.

“All around us there are signs of drug trafficking to Atlanta,” the lieutenant said.

Around March 1, Stinson’s eight-member, five-agency team raided a north Columbus home and found 50 pounds of marijuana, he said. It was a rental home being used for the drug trade — a trend law enforcement has seen in Atlanta as well.

Such houses are usually rented in low-traffic areas. No one would live there all the time, and neighbors would never see an endless line of drug buyers lining up. That would draw attention to the home, Stinson said.

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