Two Indicted After Chase Ends With Marijuana Bust|NewsChannel 8
Vinita – Two men from Mexico are charged with federal drug crimes after leading patrolmen on a pursuit that turned up nearly 600 pounds of marijuana.It happened on Interstate 44 near Vinita. Tuesday morning, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper attempted to stop the driver of the Ford pickup truck with Ohio plates for a traffic violation.
The driver failed to stop and instead sped away at more than 100 miles per hour. The driver continued speeding until he abruptly drove off the roadway and tried to drive up a steep embankment.
The driver plowed through several fences before he was stopped at a creek. Both he and a passenger got out and ran, but were quickly caught by troopers.
The federal rap for that kind of delivery of marijuana is 5-40 years in prison and $2,000,000 fine, along with what are sure to be other charges for conspiracy and such.
So you’ve got two young men from Mexico, probably very desperate for employment, hauling six 100lb. dufflebags of pot up through Oklahoma, one of the harshest states for marijuana laws in the county. Now we’ll likely foot the bill for imprisoning them for at least a decade or more.
As I read this story, I noted a comment from a reader that said,
It is a shame they didn’t wreck and kill both of them. That would have saved the tax payers a lot of money.
Not a surprising comment; I’ve read much worse. But to think that the writer thinks marijuana is so evil that two young men should die over it just reminds you how tough the battle is going to be to end adult marijuana prohibition.
My thoughts were more about the public danger created by these harsh laws. Of course they are going to run from the police! Imagine going into prison a young man and coming out with an AARP card. So I thought of the young men and the police officer who could’ve been killed during the chase and all the innocent drivers on the road who could’ve been killed by the chase, all to try to interdict 600lbs. of a weed that will kill nobody!
Then I try to remember the last time I heard of a 100 MPH police chase after suspected bootleggers. Yeah, they chase drunk drivers all the time, but very rarely potheads, and never after alcohol traffickers. When’s the last time you saw a high speed chase after a Budweiser truck?
