RENO POLICE UNIT SEIZES $1.1 MILLION IN DRUGS IN FIST YEAR

The Reno police drug unit seized more than $1.1 million in illegal
drugs and $177,714 and made 56 felony and 12 misdemeanor arrests in
its first year, officials said Thursday.

The Drug Interdiction Unit was organized in January 2008, said Sgt.
Mac Venson, unit supervisor. Two officers are in the unit.

"They are incredibly successful for being a two-man unit," Venson
said. "With (Interstate) 80 as a major corridor, if we can stop
drugs from coming in here, we can stop problems elsewhere."

The unit works with other agencies such as Amtrak police, the
federal Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigations with ATF resulted
in more than seven pounds of methamphetamine being seized in 2008, he said.

Also seized during the year were about 98 pounds of marijuana, 818
grams of cocaine, more than eight pounds of hashish, 294 grams of
ecstasy and 64 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.