Salina ? Five years ago, a Salina police officer who stopped a truck and trailer for speeding eventually uncovered about 440 pounds of cocaine hidden in a false wall. At the time it ranked as one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history.

Now, for a state that sits at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 135 – known by law enforcement as two of the nation’s busiest drug corridors – such seizures are becoming common.

Lt. Kirk Simone, who works in special operations for the Kansas Highway Patrol, said troopers last year seized more than 14,000 pounds of marijuana and 1,360 pounds of cocaine. Also seized was 96 pounds of meth, 74 pounds of heroin and $1.4 million.

“Honestly, it’s on all of our highways, going any direction, any time of the day, any day of the month, any month of the year,” Simone said. “It’s always a major problem.”

The problem has become even more acute since 9-11, when air traffic regulations became more stringent and drug traffickers turned to ground transportation.

And as a spate of arrests in recent years has shown, rural locations are now just as susceptible to drug trafficking as big cities, which in the past have been the dominant markets.

An extensive network in southeast Kansas recently was broken up, and several people arrested as part of a crack cocaine ring in Parsons, Emporia and Coffeyville, said Rich Nitsch, special agent in the FBI’s Field Intelligence Group based in Kansas City, Mo.

In June 2005, law enforcement uncovered 1.5 pounds of meth and more than $6,000 in cash during one bust. Earlier this year, officers found 4 pounds of meth and 120 pounds of Ecstasy as part of another.

“It’s a significant pull on local resources,” Nitsch said. “There’s a lot of manpower put forth on those kinds of cases that really could be used elsewhere.”

But Nitsch said it is still important to stem the tide of drugs entering the country through rural areas.

The trailer seized in Salina in 2001 was flown to Philadelphia and delivered as part of a sting that netted five arrests, including several high-ranking officials in an organized drug ring. Small-town busts can cut down on other crimes, such as theft and violence, locally.

“You take out a core element of 20 to 25 people,” Nitsch said, “and you eliminate the crimes they were committing.”

To combat the escalating cost of waging the drug war in Kansas, the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force was formed.

Since 1993, officers in Saline and Dickinson counties have poured “significant” resources into the task force, said Salina Police Chief Jim Hill, and recovered thousands of pounds in drugs and nearly $500,000 in cash.

It marks an important step into stopping what Hill believes is one of the most lucrative and overlooked markets in drug trafficking.

“What brought Lowe’s here?” Hill said of Salina. “What brings the restaurant chains here? We’re a regional center for retail shopping and for health care. It’s no different in the drug trade.

“The people who distribute drugs are businessmen, and a lot of the decisions they make are business decisions, just like Lowe’s or any other corporation.”