Interstate 70 is a major drug trafficking pipeline for mules on a tear across the state aiming to unload narcotics originating from Mexico and California. Some officials believe that Mesa County, a direct stop on I-70, is a target for fentanyl trafficking which has exploded in the last five years.
Drug enforcement officials even say that Colorado's geographic position puts it at the hub of narcotics smuggling in the West. "I-70 and I-25 is the fatal funnel so to speak," said Rocky Mountain Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob Bessel. "Colorado is a critical trans-shipment point."
Mesa County Coroner Victor Yahn places an increase in fentanyl overdose deaths squarely on Interstate 70. “Grand Junction is the perfect storm along the highway,” Yahn told The Gazette from his cavernous metal warehouse office. Interstate 70 traverses 446 miles through Colorado stretching from Grand Junction on its western border, to Burlington, near the Kansas state line.
Yahn has been with the coroner’s office for 11 years, first as a deputy coroner and now leading every death investigation, calling for toxicology on each overdose precisely so that he can keep up with which drugs are poisoning the residents. “It’s easy to come to Grand Junction and not even be noticed. It’s got a nice little small-town feeling, but there’s a dark undercurrent.”
Yahn said that drug dealers like to stop off in Mesa County, a thriving 62,000 person city center, because there are plenty of people to buy drugs and very little competition for hundreds of miles.
Morning traffic on Interstate 70 heads through Grand Junction on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, in Mesa County, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
But 21st Judicial District Attorney Dan Rubinstein disagrees with the I-70 theory. He told The Gazette that Grand Junction's exploding fentanyl problem comes from within but the drugs are getting into town from the outside. "We aren't seeing drug dealers stopping off in Grand Junction to sell. What we are seeing is that Grand Junction dealers are going elsewhere to get their quantity and bring it back, exactly like what Bruce Holder did."
Nevertheless, Rubinstein's main focus concerns prosecuting drug dealers for some form of homicide if a user dies from a bad batch of pills or powder. Building a case takes resources like investigators who are already tapped out working other cases. He said filling up jails with cases which may go nowhere is a waste of time and county money.
"There are so many overdoses, it’s hard to get a handle on which to investigate as a possible death until we know whether or not the person survived the overdose maybe a week later," said Rubinstein.
Still, Captain Bill Barkley, who leads the Colorado State Patrol’s Smuggling, Trafficking and Interdiction Section (STIS), said that there are more narcotics seized in traffic stops on I-70 than on any other state highway. But that could be partly because there are more troopers assigned to cover the roadway and that Grand Junction to Denver is the hot stretch. “I wouldn’t say Grand Junction has a bigger problem than any other city of its size in Colorado; but it’s significant because it’s the first big city coming from the west side and the last big city coming from the east side,” said Barkley.
He said 70% of narcotics traffic the STIS sees is headed to the Denver metro area. The other 30% is on its way to Chicago or Minneapolis
Fentanyl sales are exploding in Colorado, according to CSP figures. The January to June total in both pure powder and fentanyl pills showed a 390% increase from the same period last year.
Fentanyl pressed into pill form, commonly called “blues,” has become so prevalent the STIS doesn’t count them anymore, choosing instead to monitor amounts in pounds and kilos.
Blues have largely replaced heroin as the primary opioid on the illicit market, and fentanyl powder is increasingly mixed into other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine — often without the user’s knowledge.
Barkley said all but 10% of narcotics which enter the U.S. originate in Mexico smuggled in on highways, in small planes and on trains.
Just last month, the STIS recovered the largest haul of pure fentanyl powder ever seized on a U.S. highway. It happened June 20 during a traffic stop on I-70 near Georgetown.
A photo distributed by the CSP showed 48 tightly-wrapped packages, a kilo each, displayed across a silver government SUV parked near the I-70 and Georgetown ramp. According to the DEA’s figures, the 114 pounds, after being converted from kilos and used in lethal doses, was enough to kill 26,000,000 people, more than four times the population of the entire state of Colorado.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating the case and said the probable cause for the traffic stop, make of the car, driver’s information and any possible charges that he might receive are not being released to protect his family from drug cartels. “This was a finished product equal to millions of dollars. There could be extreme consequences for something like this happening,” said DEA spokesman Steve Kotecky. “These cartels are purely greed-driven and they’ll do anything imaginable, or unimaginable, to protect their profit centers.”
Cartels have turned to elaborate methods to hide mega-loads of fentanyl in vehicles. In the recent Georgetown stop, the powder was found stashed underneath the front seats accessible only by a trap door. It’s been found behind glove compartments, in wheel wells and within doors.
The deadly cargo has been found in planes, trains and U-Hauls; but often it’s hidden in vehicles which are much smaller than one would expect so as not to draw attention. Barkley said mega-loads have been found in mini-SUV’s, in particular. One recent bust was discovered hidden in a Kia Soul.
“I’m telling you right now narcotics are flowing into our state and across our state every hour of every day,” said Barkley. “And whether or not it’s on I-70 or on I-25, or it’s on secondary highways coming into our state, I would bet every hour of every day there is something.”
