It might not be good publicity for Oregon and the Willamette Valley, but it would not be wrong to start calling Interstate 5 Cocaine Alley.

In recent months, Oregon State Police found large amounts of the drug during the course of three separate traffic stops on the freeway between Albany and Portland.

One day last October, near Woodburn, they stopped three men in an SUV with out-of-state plates and found 21 kilos of cocaine worth half a million dollars in the vehicle.

In January, a trooper stopped a newer SUV for speeding on I-5 in Salem, also with out-of-state plates. The young driver was transporting 31 kilos worth $600,000.

Then last week, troopers discovered 20 kilos hidden in a northbound SUV stopped south of Woodburn. The haul was worth $400,000.

These drivers were stupid and drew attention to themselves by speeding or the way they were driving and, in one case, because of the law regarding tinted windows.

The recent finds confirm that I-5 is a major transit route for illegal drugs. The question is: How many cocaine drivers do not draw attention to themselves and thus get through? (hh)