Drug couriers won't get much sympathy here

Law enforcement officers will deny it, but it's easy to make an anecdotal case for the existence of tighter enforcement of speeding laws, for instance, when times are tough. We've noticed numerous cases of fines being paid for 10 mph or less over the speed limit.

They'll also deny profiling drug traffickers on Interstate 80, but it's not unusual to hear of several major drug busts on the "super slab."

More often than not, drug couriers are crossing the state as quickly as possible in their late-model vehicles.

It's no small matter.

After a report from the non-profit, libertarian advocacy group Institute for Justice found that Nebraska sets a high standard of "beyond reasonable doubt" for a judge to rule that goods or cash were used for a drug scheme, the Lincoln Journal Star searched records to find that, since 2004, 12 vehicles and nearly $3.9 million in cash have been seized in connection with drug stops in the state. That doesn't count nearly $2.17 million in a van at a truck stop near Gretna, which no one claimed and thus required no federal case to be filed. As we've noted, very few of the cars seized on Interstate 80 were more than a year or two old.

But if they're catching that many drugs on one of the nation's main arteries, imagine how many are slipping through undetected.

We almost hate to see authorities tighten up security on I-80, knowing that it will push more traffic onto alternate routes like Highway 34 and even connecting Highway 83, 183 and 283 routes.

But, while it's important officials don't get away with racial profiling or other affronts to personal liberties, we doubt the drug dealers will get much sympathy in these parts.